Adventurers for Hire
by stabbykeith1985
Summary: J'Khasha, a Khajiit assassin, and Gazes-At-Stars, an Argonian spellsword, are the Adventurers for Hire, freelance adventurers willing to offer their services for the right price. When two mages, the powerful Imperial Gaius Vesuvio, and the beautiful Khajiit healer Tsaravi, hire them as escorts, none of them realize the collision with destiny in store for them, and Tamriel.
1. Road to Winterhold Chapter 1

The Adventurers for Hire:

The Road to Winterhold Part 1

7 First Seed 4E 200

For over 200 years, the Oak and Crosier has been Chorrol's finest tavern. Legend has it the Champion of Cyrodiil often stayed there during his adventures. Since the end of the Third Era, the same family of Khajiit have owned and operated the tavern, passed on from parent to child for generations. Right now, one of those Khajiit was sitting at his favorite spot, the back-corner table by the fireplace.

J'Khasha, a black furred Khajiit, is the nephew of the tavern's current owner, Alayna. He was waiting for his best friend and fellow Adventurer for Hire, the Argonian, Gazes-At-Stars. Gazes claimed he had a job lined up for them, and was bringing over two clients to discuss the details. J'Khasha was enjoying a small lunch as he waited. When he looked up from his plate, J'Khasha found Gazes had suddenly appeared in the seat across from him. This genuinely startled J'Khasha, as he was quite skilled at sneaking, and Gazes shouldn't be able to get the drop on him as often as he did.

"Hello there!" Gazes said, his voice betraying his amusement at seeing J'Khasha jump. "The clients are meeting us here. Looks to be an escort job. They want us to take them to Winterhold."

J'Khasha already didn't like the sound of this. He had never heard of this Winterhold, but any place that had 'winter' in its name couldn't possibly be pleasant for a Khajiit! "And just where is this Winterhold?" he asked.

Gazes hesitated to answer, sending up even more red flags for J'Khasha. "It's a small town, with a magic school of some kind." Gazes said, "In Skyrim. **Northern** Skyrim. As far north as north goes in Tamriel."

"SKYRIM!" J'Khasha shouted, puffing out his fur, and drawing glances from the other patrons. "I know you wanted to leave Cyrodiil for a while, but I thought you'd want to go someplace pleasant, like High Rock, or Pelletine! Gods, even Black Marsh would be better than Skyrim!"

"They're offering a good deal of Drakes for this." Gazes said, "And Skyrim has many opportunities for adventurers like us."

J'Khasha's fur settled. "Ignoring the fact that even in Sun's Height, parts of Skyrim remain below freezing, and the fact that Nords aren't exactly fans of non-Nords, there are rumors of a civil war brewing up there. Do you really want to get caught up in the middle of that?"

Gazes shrugged nonchalantly. "They say war is good for business."

J'Khasha hissed. "They also say war is **bad** for business! And war never changes!"

Gazes was about to say something when his attention was drawn to the door. "That's them." He said, pointing to two figures in hooded robes, one blue, the other black. Gazes walked over to them, and began speaking with Blue, while Black's attention seemed completely focused on J'Khasha.

They came over to J'Khasha's table. Blue had a masculine build, while Black was clearly female. Most intriguingly, Black had a furry tail like J'Khasha's, revealing that she too was a Khajiit. Blue lowered his hood, revealing an Imperial man in his early 20's, with short, black hair, and a trimmed goatee. "My name is Gaius Vesuvio." He said, reaching out his hand.

J'Khasha stood up and politely shook his hand. "I am J'Khasha." He said.

Black lowered her hood, showing that indeed she was a Khajiit, a Suthay-Raht like J'Khasha. She had amber, almost golden fur with black stripes, a white muzzle, and piercing, icy blue eyes. "Greetings! This one is called Tsaravi." She spoke in the manner and accent of a native of Annequina.

J'Khasha was absolutely stunned by the beauty of this young woman. Although she had scars across her face from what looked like some kind of animal attack, J'Khasha felt they enhanced her beauty rather than detracted from it. "It is a great pleasure to meet you Tsaravi." He said shaking her hand vigorously. "Please, have a seat."

The mages sat down across from J'Khasha, while Gazes sat next to him. "Thank you for meeting with us." Gaius said, "I understand you're aware of our offer?"

"Yes, he is." Gazes said, "And I'm afraid my associate is completely unwilling to- GRFF!"

J'Khasha held Gazes' jaw shut. "Completely unwilling to let such fine people go to Skyrim unescorted!" He finished for Gazes. "We accept!"

Both mages were quite pleased. "Thank you so much!" Gaius said, "The Fighters Guild has no presence in Skyrim, so they would only take us to Pale Pass, and even then, they wanted to charge us almost twice what you are, and you're taking us the whole way!"

Tsaravi bowed her head and made a Khajiit gesture of gratitude with her hands. "Azurah's blessing upon you, clan-mate!" She said to J'Khasha, then raised her head. "When can we leave?"

Gazes made J'Khasha release his face. "If it's alright with you two," Gazes said, "We'll need a week to get our affairs in order, and prepare for such a long journey."

"Very well." Gaius said, "We'll meet back here in a week's time. Until then, farewell." They got up to leave.

"If you need a place to stay," J'Khasha said, "We have rooms available here! My Aunt owns the tavern, and since you are clients of mine, she'll give you a 25% discount!"

"That's not a bad idea!" Gaius said, "It's been ages since I slept in a real bed!"

"Thank you for your generous offer J'Khasha!" Tsaravi said, "May you walk on warm sands!" She and Gaius walked over to J'Khasha's Aunt Alayna to make the arrangements.

When they were alone, Gazes gave J'Khasha a surprised look. "Well, **that** happened!" Gazes said, "What happened to all that talk about 'War never changes! Nords hate non-Nords!' and so forth?"

J'Khasha rested his head in his hand and purred as he watched Tsaravi. "Did you see her eyes Gazes?" J'Khasha asked, ignoring Gazes' question. "It's like they were looking into my soul!"

"What?!" Gazes said, dumbfounded.

"And her voice!" J'Khasha said, tail swaying idly from side to side. "Such a beautiful accent!"

Gazes laughed. " **Now** I see! At least this way we **both** get something we want! I get to leave Cyrodiil for a while, and you get to spend time with a woman that's turned an assassin into a giggling schoolgirl!" Gazes became serious. "So, what are you going to tell your family about this? Skyrim is a long way from here. It could take almost a month just to get there."

That snapped J'Khasha back to reality. "They've known this trip was coming for a while now. They just didn't know where or when. Tomorrow, I'll gather them all together, and tell them."

Gazes stood up to leave. "If you need any help with that, I'm here for you." Gazes said, "I should tell my parents, so I'll head home now." He turned to leave, then turned back and hugged J'Khasha. "Thank you, Marsh-Friend! For all the help you've given me. Especially after the… unpleasantness." He released his friend, and left the Oak and Crosier.

J'Khasha felt sad for his friend. Gazes had been a wreck since **that** day. Perhaps this trip would do him some good. J'Khasha saw Tsaravi carrying her bag upstairs. She smiled and waved to him, and he smiled and waved back. _'Perhaps this trip will be good for_ _ **me**_ _as well!'_ J'Khasha thought as he pondered what lay ahead of him.

To be continued…


	2. Road to Winterhold Chapter 2

Adventurers for Hire:

The Road to Winterhold Part 2

8 First Seed 4E 200

100 years ago, J'Khasha's great-great-great grandfather rebuilt and expanded the Oak and Crosier after a fire burned it down. He not only added more rooms for guests, but also a third floor for his family and descendants to live. Today, J'Khasha and his rather large extended family, his parents, aunt and uncle, and all six of his cousins lived here. There were six bedrooms, three on either side of a main hall with a hearth and large dining table, past the hall was a living room with four couches around a stone fire pit, the walls of which were lined with bookcases overflowing with books, at the corner of the living room was a balcony overlooking Chorrol's south gate. It was cramped, but, apart from J'Khasha's oldest cousin Risha, the family wouldn't have it any other way.

After breakfast that morning, J'Khasha brought his parents, Dro'Khalash and Zaikhala, into the living room to discuss his plans with them. "Mama, Papa, I…I…" J'Khasha said, having trouble finding the words.

Zaikhala, J'Khasha's mother placed a hand on his. "You're leaving soon." She said, "You and Gazes, aren't you?"

"Yes." J'Khasha said, finding courage in what he hoped was her acceptance of the situation. "By the end of the week. A couple of mages have hired us to escort them to a town called Winterhold, in Skyrim."

"Skyrim?" Zaikhala said, tail twitching wildly, showing her worry. "That's not exactly the friendliest place for a Khajiit and an Argonian. And from what I've heard, nor is it for **anyone** who isn't a Nord right now."

J'Khasha worried he was losing his parents' support, until his father spoke. "Everywhere has its own problems, even Cyrodiil." Dro'Khalash said, putting a hand on his wife's shoulder. "They can't go anywhere in the Aldmeri Dominion, Hammerfell has closed its borders to the Empire, Morrowind is full of Dark Elves, and Black Marsh is Black Marsh. Skyrim is probably the best of limited options."

Zaikhala appeared to calm down, her tail stopped twitching at least. "And how long do you and Gazes plan on staying afterward?" She asked, apprehension in her voice.

"A year." J'Khasha said. "At least."

Zaikhala closed her eyes and sighed, her ears folding forward in sadness. "A year." She said, then opened her eyes and looked into J'Khasha's. "You won't be here for your birthday." Her voice trembled.

J'Khasha's ears also folded forward. "This is hard for me as well Mama." He said, voice breaking. "But you know Gazes has been pretty insistent on a journey like this for a while now. Ever since **that** day." His parents exchanged glances, each remembering that terrible time, before J'Khasha continued. "He wants- **needs** to get away from Cyrodiil for a while. If I don't go with him, he'll go on his own. This way, I can keep an eye on him, maybe keep him from doing something stupid." J'Khasha could also spend time with that attractive Khajiit woman, Tsaravi, but he decided to keep that little fact to himself for now.

"You're a very good friend, J'Khasha." Dro'Khalash said, pride evident in his voice. "It takes a special kind of man to help a friend in this way."

Zaikhala wiped the tears from her eyes before turning to her husband. "How can you be so calm about this? Our 14-year old son is leaving us for a **year**. To go to **Skyrim**!"

Dro'Khalash took his wife's hand in his. "I am as worried as you sweet. But I wasn't much more than a year older than him when I fought with the Legion in the Great War, and lost my arm." He lifted what remained of his left arm to accentuate his point. "J'Khasha and Gazes have been adventuring on their own for a while now, they've gotten into and out of a lot of tough situations. I'm so calm because I know they can handle themselves."

Zaikhala considered Dro'Khalash's words, then turned to J'Khasha. "A year." She said, sternly. "And no longer! After that, you two come straight home!"

J'Khasha's ears perked right back up at his mother's acceptance. "I wouldn't have it any other way!"

"And while you're there," Zaikhala said. "you'll write home regularly, let us know you're okay."

"As often as I am able." J'Khasha promised.

Zaikhala softened her tone. "All right then. You're leaving in a week, so let's make the most of it. We'll tell the rest of the family, and spend as much time together as we can!"

Later that day, they told J'Khasha's aunt, uncle, and cousins about his upcoming journey. Most of them were saddened that he was going to be gone for such a long time, but they supported his decision none the less. Risha, J'Khasha's oldest cousin, seemed almost thrilled to have one less relative crowding her home. While J'Khasha's only boy cousin, Ma'Seraad, was quite upset that someone he thought of more as a brother than a cousin was leaving at all, let alone for a year.

"But a year is **forever** from now!" The 5-year old Ohmes-Raht cried, as he ran up and grabbed hold of J'Khasha's leg, as though he were leaving right then. "You can't go away that long, you just can't!" Tears were streaming down the poor boy's face.

J'Khasha extracted himself from his cousin's iron grasp, and knelt to his level, placing his hands on the boy's shoulders. "You'll be okay Squeaker." He said, calling Ma'Seraad by his nickname. "A year will pass sooner than you realize. And it's not like I'm dropping off the face of Nirn! I'll write home as often as I can, and when I do, I'll write a special letter just for you! So, you'd better practice your reading!"

Squeaker wiped away his tears. "But it won't be the same as having you here." He said, softly. "I won't be able to talk to you."

"That is true," J'Khasha said. "but you can do the next best thing. When I get to Skyrim, I'll rent a post box at the census and excise office, so you can write back to me. And I'll make sure to check regularly for your letters."

Squeaker seemed to brighten up for a moment, then slumped back down and frowned. "But I can't write!"

Alayna, Ma'Seraad's mother chuckled and patted him on the back. "That's all right Sweetness! Your Papa and I will teach you, and until then, I can write for you."

Squeaker smiled. "Thank you, Mama!"

J'Khasha was happy to see his cousin feeling better about this. "See? It won't be so bad without me here! And before you know it, I'll be coming up those stairs with lots of stories and gifts from Skyrim."

Squeaker's eyes widened. "You'll bring me presents?"

"Absolutely!" J'Khasha said. "You just have to do one thing for me. Keep an eye on my Mama and Papa for me while I'm gone. If your Auntie Zaikhala or Uncle Dro'Khalash seem sad, try to cheer them up, the way you cheer me up when I'm down. I'll feel a lot better knowing they've got a big boy like you looking out for them."

The boy stood up straight and puffed out his chest in a heroic pose. "You can count on me J'Khasha! I won't let you down!"

The next week was a flurry of activity. As J'Khasha prepared for his journey, he spent as much time as he could with his family. He helped his mother in the Oak and Crosier's kitchen during the dinner rush, played with his cousins, and every night, the whole family would gather for dinner. Before they realized it, the morning J'Khasha and Gazes were leaving had arrived.

14 First Seed 4E 200

J'Khasha awoke just before dawn, and found that sometime in the night, Squeaker had crawled into bed with him. J'Khasha carefully sat up, trying not to disturb Squeaker, when he saw that his second youngest cousin, Ulahna, had also come into his bed. 3-year old Ulahna was an Alfiq, a type of Khajiit that was the same shape and size as an ordinary house cat, but had the same intelligence as any man or mer, and right now, she was curled into a circle by J'Khasha's feet, snoring softly. J'Khasha carefully slid out of bed without waking his little cousins. He then gently moved Squeaker so his head was resting on the pillows, then pulled the blanket over his shoulders and tucked him in. J'Khasha quietly got dressed and left the Oak and Crosier, he had a task he wanted to complete before breakfast.

Outside, J'Khasha wrapped his timber wolf fur cape around his shoulders. In the dim light, he could see his breath come out in puffs. It may have been the middle of First Seed, but in the Colovian Highlands, winter's chill could still be felt keenly this early in the morning. He headed west down the street, past the shops, towards the chapel of Stendarr. He passed a patrolling guard. "Good morning, citizen." The guard greeted, J'Khasha nodded in acknowledgement.

J'Khasha went behind the chapel to the cemetery. He passed several grave markers before stopping at one of the smaller ones, signifying a child's grave. He cleared the moss obscuring the inscription before sitting down in front of it, cross-legged. "Hello, Zahra." He said to his sister's grave. "I know it's been awhile since last I spoke to you, but it's going to be even longer before I can speak to you again. You see, Gazes and I are going to Skyrim, and we won't be back for over a year. We're finally going on one of those big adventures, like the three of us would pretend to go on when we were kids." He sniffed and wiped a tear from his eye. "I wish you were here to go with us. It would be so much more fun with you along. Gazes hasn't been doing too well since what happened to his lady friend, and I think he needs this trip more than he realizes. I can just hear you now, 'J'Khasha, we both know that's not the only reason you're going!' And you'd be right, I'll admit it, it doesn't hurt that one of the clients is a very attractive Khajiit woman about my age, one I'd like to get to know better." The chapel bells began ringing, signaling the official start of the day. "I should head back. Don't want to scare Squeaker and the others into thinking I left without saying good-bye!" He kissed his fingertips and touched the gravestone. "Good-bye, Zahra. See you next year."

After breakfast, J'Khasha got ready to leave. He put on his fur armor, but kept his timber wolf fur cape in his pack, as it was far too warm. He strapped his twin steel daggers to his hips, and slung his Imperial bow and a quiver of steel arrows across his back. In his pack, aside from his fur cape, was a week's worth of food, enough to reach Bruma, a couple jars of Moon sugar which could last a year if used sparingly, a new leather bound journal with several sticks of charcoal, a map of northern Cyrodiil, a few healing potions, a metal and flint tool for starting fires, his water skin, and strapped on top was his bedroll. After some tearful good-byes with his family, J'Khasha made his way to the north gate, where he was meeting with the others.

Gazes, Tsaravi, and Gaius were already there waiting when J'Khasha arrived. "Sorry if I kept you waiting long. Everyone in my family insisted on saying good-bye personally."

"You didn't." Gazes said. "We just got here ourselves."

"Tsaravi is envious you have such a caring family." Tsaravi said, smiling with a hint of sadness in her eyes.

"We're all here and ready." Said Gaius. "We have a long journey ahead of us, so let's be on our way."

They went through the north gate, and began their journey on the road to Winterhold.

To be continued…


	3. Road to Winterhold Chapter 3

The Adventurers for Hire:

The Road to Winterhold Part 3

15 First Seed 4E 200

Tsaravi awoke to the delicious smell and crackle of bacon. She sat up from her bedroll to find one of her travelling companions, the black furred Khajiit, J'Khasha, crouched by the campfire. He had two skillets over the fire, each with four strips of bacon cooking in them. He was also peeling a couple of potatoes as he flipped the bacon. As he worked, he hummed a little tune to himself that Tsaravi couldn't quite identify, occasionally singing the lyrics. "Sanguine and Sheogorath, they're fun guys! But the fun only lasts until somebody dies! They're still Daedra! Dae-Dae-Dae-Dae-Daedra!" Tsaravi giggled quietly at the ridiculous line, drawing J'Khasha's attention. "Ah! Good morning." J'Khasha said with a smile. "Just cooking up some breakfast for everyone."

The foursome had set up camp by Glademist cave for their first night of travelling. Tsaravi had a difficult time sleeping, it was the first time in a long time that she had slept out in the wilderness. She noticed her friend Gaius, and J'Khasha's fellow Adventurer for Hire, the Argonian, Gazes-At-Stars, were both still asleep. She decided to take the opportunity to get to know J'Khasha better. He was the first Khajiit she had even seen in over two years, and she was desperate for a conversation with one of her own kind, even if he was from Cyrodiil, and spoke like an Imperial. "What was that you were singing?" She asked as she took a seat across the fire from J'Khasha. "This one has never heard it before."

J'Khasha began dicing the potatoes and putting them in the skillets with the bacon. "It's just this funny little song that this bard used to sing at the Oak and Crosier. It goes through all the Daedra lords, tells what each one does, and gives an ironic consequence for dealing with them. I'd often hear it while helping Mama in the kitchen, so now whenever I cook, that song gets stuck in my head."

"May Tsaravi hear it?" She asked. "That line you sang made Tsaravi laugh, and now this one is curious about the rest."

J'Khasha's ears folded back and the fur on his tail puffed out. "Oh no! You do **not** want to hear me sing!"

Tsaravi was puzzled by his reaction. "Tsaravi has heard you sing just now. You have a lovely voice, this one does want to hear you sing!"

J'Khasha laughed mirthlessly. "You heard my 'no one's around or watching me' voice. My 'everyone's watching' voice often sends my cousin Ulahna running to hide under a bed! I just can't sing in front of people."

Tsaravi could tell J'Khasha wouldn't budge on this and decided to drop it. "All right, you don't have to sing. But Tsaravi thinks it's a shame to keep such a talent hidden."

J'Khasha's ears and tail went back to normal. "Thank you, and so do I actually, but I can't help it. For whatever reason, when I try to sing in front of people, I become very nervous and start singing off-key. It's not pleasant."

Tsaravi took a whiff of breakfast, the aroma of the potatoes frying in the bacon grease further enhanced the already appetizing smell of the bacon itself. Her stomach rumbled loudly, and judging from his expression, J'Khasha heard it as well. "It all smells wonderful." She said, trying to change the subject. "This one is looking forward to breakfast!"

J'Khasha flashed a mischievous grin. "Just wait until I add the special ingredient to our skillet!" He reached into his pack, and pulled out a medium sized brown jar. He sprinkled a pinch of the contents onto the bacon in one of the skillets. The aroma that created brought Tsaravi home, sharing a meal with her family in happier times. Before her mother passed, and her father became a shell of the good man he used to be, and she and her sister grew more distant.

The tingling in her nose and sinuses confirmed her suspicion. "Moon Sugar!" She purred. "It has been so long since Tsaravi has had Moon Sugar!" To the Khajjit, Moon Sugar was not only a staple of their diet, but a holy substance that allowed them to connect with the divine Lunar Lattice. To everyone else, it was a powerful narcotic, which is why it is illegal in the Empire for non-Khajiit, which makes it difficult enough to acquire, but when you've lived two years in an isolated Ayleid ruin, as Tsaravi has, it can be impossible, so this was quite welcome.

"I would imagine so." J'Khasha said sympathetically. "My family has a hard enough time getting a steady supply."

Gazes and Gaius woke up when breakfast was nearly ready. "Smells good!" Gaius said.

"One of the benefits of contracting the Adventurers for Hire!" Gazes said as he rolled up his bedroll. "You not only get a skilled spellsword and an assassin, but an excellent cook as well!"

Gaius sniffed at the aroma. "Is that Moon Sugar I smell?" He asked uneasily.

"Yes," J'Khasha said. "but don't worry. Only one of the skillets have been seasoned with it." He pointed to the skillet on his left. "Unless you **want** to see funny colors, eat from this skillet. The other is for Khajiit only." Then he seemed momentarily confused. "Or was it the other way around? No, no, the first way was correct. I think." He winked at Tsaravi with his mischievous grin.

Tsaravi chuckled at J'Khasha's jest, and Gaius' worry. "Look at the bright side Gaius, at least if you eat the wrong bacon, you'll get a nice Magicka boost to go with the visions!"

Everyone but Gaius laughed at that, as J'Khasha began dishing everyone up. "Relax Gaius." J'Khasha said with a grin as he handed Gaius a plate. "I know full well which skillet is which. I know how dangerous Moon Sugar can be to non-Khajiit, so I made absolutely certain that none got into your and Gazes' skillet."

Gazes took his plate and began salting his potatoes, when he saw Gaius still hadn't taken a bite of his food. "Look Gaius, you saw that I got food from the same skillet as you." He took a bite of bacon. "See? It's fine. J'Khasha was only joking around."

Gaius tentatively took a bite of his bacon, and seemed satisfied when he suffered no ill effects. "This is excellent. Cooked just as I prefer them."

Tsaravi eagerly took her plate and began eating her bacon, savoring every bite. Sweet didn't begin to describe it, even the minuscule amount of Moon Sugar J'Khasha used created an explosion of flavor. Within moments, a familiar tingling began to spread from her mouth to the rest of her body, and once again felt the feeling of being home. "Thank you so much for this J'Khasha! Tsaravi had almost forgotten what it feels like!" She teared up as she spoke.

"How long have you gone without Moon Sugar?" J'Khasha asked.

Tsaravi thought on it as she chewed some potatoes, trying to remember. "Gods, it's been almost a year now. It's so hard to come by in Cyrodiil, Tsaravi had given up hope of ever tasting it again!"

"Alkosh!" J'Khasha exclaimed. "I have trouble going a **week** without it! I can't imagine a whole year! It's a shame you didn't know about the Oak and Crosier. My family keeps the tavern stocked with plenty of Moon Sugar, and we're always happy to sell to a fellow Khajiit. You must be pretty strong willed to have lasted this long!"

Tsaravi's ears folded forward, and she began to cry. "It was difficult, **very** difficult at first." She sniffed and wiped the tears away. "But as time went by, this one was better able to cope with it, although Tsaravi never felt quite like herself during this time. Even worse, this one feared the Gods would abandon her for not taking in the Moons' light given form." She smiled warmly, and her ears perked back up. "But now, Tsaravi finally feels like herself again, even from that small amount, thank you!"

J'Khasha set aside his plate and reached into his pack. Tsaravi was about to ask what he was looking for, when he pulled out another medium sized brown jar. He looked at it for a few seconds before handing her the jar. "Here, you'll need this **far** more than I will."

When she opened the jar, Tsaravi found that it was filled to the brim with Moon Sugar! She was overwhelmed by his generosity, to say the least. "Oh, S'Rendarr! Tsaravi can't possibly accept this!" She tried to give it back, but J'Khasha held up his hand to stop her.

"Keep it!" J'Khasha said. "I insist! Consider it a gift! I'd have to be a heartless monster to hoard all this Moon Sugar to myself, and leave you with nothing!"

Tsaravi held the jar close to her breast, and wept happily. "Thank you so much for your kindness, Clan-Mate! Tsaravi will never forget this!"

They finished breakfast, and packed up their camp. They continued to follow the road east to their next planned stopping point, the Silver Road. It would take them most of the day to get there, so they tried to maintain a brisk pace. Tsaravi felt better than she had since she used up the last of her Moon Sugar last year, so she had a slight bounce to her step. It was amazing the difference only a couple strips of bacon, with a light sprinkling of Moon Sugar, had made for her mood. She was in such a fine mood, she even began humming the song J'Khasha had been singing earlier. She greatly enjoyed the melody, even though she only knew one line of the lyrics.

Gaius smiled at the sight. " **There's** my friend, Tsaravi! I've missed you this last year!"

Tsaravi giggled giddily. "Tsaravi feels like a damp cloth that's been there for months has finally been removed from this one's face!"

Gaius chuckled. "It shows! This has turned out to be a fortuitous arrangement, hiring those two."

"This one agrees." Tsaravi said. "Which is why Tsaravi believes we should give them a bonus of some kind when we reach Winterhold."

"What did you have in mind?" Gaius asked.

Tsaravi thought on it for a moment, then remembered her "sandstorm day" emergency stash. "In Tsaravi's pack, there's a pouch of gems this one has been saving for a bad day. We could include that with their payment. It should cover the cost of the Moon Sugar and sufficiently show Tsaravi's gratitude."

Gaius raised his eyebrows. "Your 'sandstorm' stash? That's rather generous Tsaravi."

Tsaravi unconsciously swished her tail side to side. "It was rather generous for J'Khasha to give this one **half** his supply of Moon Sugar! You know as well as Tsaravi does just how important Moon Sugar is to Khajiit, which should tell you how great a sacrifice he has made for someone he has only known a week." She began to purr softly without realizing. "If only more people had such an attitude, the world would be far better for it. Tsaravi can make a similar sacrifice for J'Khasha, her 'sandstorm' stash should be more than enough for him to split with Gazes, trade for more Moon Sugar, should he find someone selling it, and have enough left over for himself. It is the very least this one can do for such a kind and noble soul."

Gaius furrowed his brow. "Tsaravi, are you… **attracted** to him?"

Tsaravi thought on that question for a moment, as she did so, she watched J'Khasha as he walked ahead of them with Gazes, discussing something with the Argonian. He **was** handsome, she was certain she'd think that even if he wasn't the first Khajiit she'd seen since passing through Bravil two years earlier, on her way to join the Synod. He was certainly kind-hearted, during her stay at the Oak and Crosier, she could see he dearly loved his family, and he **did** give her half his supply of Moon Sugar, seemingly for no other reason than to help a fellow Khajiit in need. And there was something about him, something familiar she couldn't quite put her finger on. "Tsaravi is…uncertain. This one would at least like to be friends with him. Much can happen in a month, we shall see."

They walked a couple more hours, when J'Khasha suddenly stopped, ears and tail twitching wildly. "Hold up!" He said as he unslung his bow and nocked an arrow. "I think I heard something. Bad!" He began to sniff the air.

Tsaravi drew her Staff of Fireball, Gazes drew his sword, and Gaius readied his spells. All three cast Stoneflesh on themselves, and Gazes cast on J'Khasha, while Tsaravi cast Courage on the entire group.

Gazes readied a Destruction spell in his free hand as he looked in every direction. "What is it?" He whispered. "How close?"

As if to answer his question, a massive bear came crashing through the bushes with a roar to the shock of all. " **CLOSE!** " J'Khasha screamed, as he shot off an arrow and jumped back, away from the beast. The arrow struck the bear in its side, bringing another roar which greatly hurt Tsaravi's sensitive Khajiit ears. The bear turned to the source of its pain, J'Khasha, and charged. J'Khasha dropped his bow and drew his daggers. Just as the bear struck, J'Khasha dodged to the left. As the bear passed, J'Khasha sliced its hind quarters with his right dagger, then used his momentum to spin around and stab almost the exact same spot with his left. Tsaravi was impressed by the elegance of the maneuver. The bear was not quite as impressed, letting out a fierce roar that grew in intensity when J'Khasha jerked out his blade, releasing a large gout of blood from the wound. Faster than anyone could believe, the bear turned and struck J'Khasha in the right shoulder, hard, and knocked him to the ground crying out in pain. "J'KHASHA!" Tsaravi and Gazes yelled out.

The bear stood on its hind legs, unsteadily from the wound, and prepared to continue its assault on its prone target. Before it could, however, bolts of fire and lightning struck the bear in the chest and knocked it off balance, causing it to fall flat on its back with a loud thud. Gaius circled around to flank the bear, hitting it with Firebolts as he did so, while Gazes charged head-on shooting out lightning as he closed in.

Tsaravi took advantage of the distraction to rush over and help J'Khasha. He was having difficulty getting up, it seemed he could only use his left arm, as even the slightest movement of his right caused him to cry out in pain. She helped him to his feet, and put as much distance between them and the fight as she could. She had J'Khasha sit on the ground and lean back against a boulder, so she could examine his wound and heal it. His shoulder had three large, deep gouges, one of which she could see bone, blood trickled down his arm. Tsaravi shuddered at how much worse the injury could have been if not for Gazes' Stoneflesh spell, and was amazed at how calm and collected J'Khasha was, despite the obvious agony he was in. "Hold on J'Khasha! Tsaravi will fix you up before you know it!" She readied her best healing spell in both her hands, combined their power, and released the healing energy into J'Khasha's wound.

J'Khasha stopped groaning in pain and let out a huge sigh of relief as the gouges began to close. Within a few minutes, there was little evidence he had been so badly wounded, apart from bare patches of gray skin, it would be a while before the fur grew back in fully. J'Khasha looked into her eyes and smiled. "Thank you Tsaravi! It hardly hurts at all now!"

Looking into his eyes, Tsaravi once again got that strange, "familiar" feeling she got that day at the Oak and Crosier when she first saw him. As though she had somehow seen him before, but she just couldn't remember where. She quickly stood up, suddenly feeling flush, and reached her hand down to help him up. "You're quite welcome!" J'Khasha took her hand and he stood up. They turned around just in time to see Gazes stab the bear through the mouth, and out the top of its head. It fell on its side and didn't get back up again.

Gaius was breathing heavily, exerted from the combat. "Gods! Why in Oblivion did it attack us so viciously?"

J'Khasha gathered his dropped weapons as he answered. "Bears in this area are highly aggressive. We likely wandered too close without realizing it, and it felt threatened."

Gaius walked up to the bear's corpse to get a better look at it. "Kynareth, it's huge! It's one thing to read about them, but to see one up close, it's something else!"

J'Khasha scoffed. "Wait till we get to Skyrim! I've heard stories of bears **twice** this size roaming the countryside!"

They decided to rest for a while before moving on. J'Khasha shared some braided bread his mother had baked. Even cold and unbuttered, Tsaravi found it delicious, and an excellent pick-me-up after their ordeal. Once they were refreshed, they carried on to their next stopping point.

It was almost dusk when they reached the Silver Road, and set up camp just off the crossroad. Gaius went to gather firewood, J'Khasha wanted to try to hunt some rabbit or even deer for dinner, which left Tsaravi and Gazes alone to set up camp. Gazes started putting stones in a circle for the fire, while Tsaravi set up everyone's bedrolls around it, making sure hers and J'Khasha's were head to head so she could talk to him some more in the night. When Gazes finished setting up the fire pit, he sat on his bedroll. "Hey Tsaravi, thanks for helping J'Khasha back there. If anything happened to him, his mother would kill me! I mean that literally, she would make my heart stop!"

Tsaravi smiled humbly. "It was nothing. Tsaravi was happy to help!"

"I'm very glad you did!" Gazes said. "I know some Restoration magic, but not near enough to have been any help with a wound like that. He probably would've lost his arm if not for you!"

"If not for your Stoneflesh spell," Tsaravi said. "He would have lost his arm right then and there! You had as much to do with saving him as this one did!"

Gaius came back with an armful of firewood and set it by the fire pit. Gazes put some wood and kindling into the pit, and took out his metal and flint tool. Gaius held out a hand. "Please, allow me this time!" A stream of flame shot out from his hand and into the woodpile, lighting it on fire.

"Thank you!" Gazes said.

"One of the benefits of the Adventurers for Hire being contracted by us!" Gaius said, imitating Gazes. "You not only get a skilled mage and healer, but an excellent firelighter as well!" Gazes and Tsaravi laughed heartily at that, as they warmed themselves by the fire.

A few minutes later, J'Khasha returned carrying three rabbits, clearly having a successful hunt. He cooked a nice, simple stew from the rabbits that was quite welcome in the cold mountain air. Tsaravi was once again impressed at J'Khasha's ability to make such basic dishes taste better than gourmet cuisine. "Thank you for dinner J'Khasha. Tsaravi thoroughly enjoyed it! You are a most excellent cook!"

J'Khasha bowed his head at the compliment. "You should thank my mother. She taught me everything I know about cooking. Indeed, I very nearly followed in her footsteps, but this life is my true calling."

Tsaravi smiled. "Tsaravi is saddened the world has lost such a talented chef, but thankful to have such a talented adventurer escorting her!"

"It's getting late." Gazes said. "We should turn in, so we can get a nice early start tomorrow. If we're quick enough, we can make it to Bruma by mid-day."

J'Khasha let out a yawn so big, Tsaravi could swear she could see down to the tip of his tail! "No argument here!" J'Khasha said after snapping his jaw shut. "After the day I've had, I feel like I could sleep for a year!"

After Gazes and Gaius cast Lightning and Flame Runes respectively to protect the camp, they all settled into their bedrolls. Tsaravi watched the waning crescent of Jode drift lazily across the sky. Just as she was settling into sleep, J'Khasha whispered. "Tsaravi?"

"Yes?" She whispered back.

"Thank you so much again for saving my arm!" He whispered. "Thank you for saving **me**!" She could hear his voice break slightly.

She smiled warmly, touched by his gratitude. "Tsaravi was very glad to help! Good night J'Khasha!"

"Good night Tsaravi!" He whispered.

Before Tsaravi realized it, she had drifted off to sleep.

To be continued…


	4. Road to Winterhold Chapter 4

(Author's note: Thank you to those of you who have followed and faved my story, it means a lot to me! You may have noticed a **slight** change to the title. I originally intended to post each story arc individually, but have come to realize it would be simpler to post them all under one title. I hope this didn't cause any confusion. So, thank you again, please review, I welcome constructive criticism, or even a simple "I liked it." Now on with the story!)

 **The Adventurers for Hire:**

 **The Road to Winterhold Part Four**

16 First Seed 4E 200

Gazes had underestimated their pace. J'Khasha judged, by the sun's position, that it wasn't even eleven when they walked through Bruma's east gate. Bruma was often called "a little piece of Skyrim in Cyrodiil", and it showed. The buildings, with the exception of the chapel and castle of course, were built of logs from the evergreen forest surrounding the city, and were partially underground to insulate heat. And there were Nords **everywhere**.

It was **cold**. J'Khasha was glad he chose to put on his timber wolf fur cape back at camp, even without the new bald spots on his shoulder, he would have been chilled otherwise. J'Khasha and Gazes had only been here a few times before, and that was in the summer months when it was relatively mild. But now in First Seed, there was still a good two feet of snow on the ground. J'Khasha's cousin Ma'Seraad would have been thrilled to be there, he absolutely **loved** snow. He wrapped his tail around his waist in an effort to warm it, and pulled up his hood to protect his ears from the bracing north wind, and saw Tsaravi had done the same.

Oddly enough, J'Khasha's Argonian friend Gazes-At-Stars seemed to be the only one in the group not bothered by the cold. Indeed, if anything, he seemed oddly **invigorated** by it. J'Khasha hadn't seen him like this in months. Gazes took a deep breath, and let it out with a contented sigh before turning to face the others. "I know we're here earlier than I anticipated, but I still think we should stay the night here as planned. This will be our last chance to sleep in real beds for at least a week, and we should take advantage of that. It's also our best chance to resupply before venturing into the mountains."

They all agreed wholeheartedly. "And where shall we stay, may I ask?" Gaius said.

J'Khasha turned to face him. "There's an inn where Gazes and I stay when we're working around Bruma, the Jerall View Inn. It doesn't hold a candle, or even a match for that matter, to the Oak and Crosier, but it has its charm."

Tsaravi blew into her hands to warm them. "As long as it has a warm fire and warm mead, Tsaravi would be happy in a shack!" She said with a grin that J'Khasha couldn't help but return.

"My thoughts exactly!" J'Khasha said. "But let's try the inn first."

They walked up the street, passing the Chapel of the Eight, formerly the Chapel of Talos until the White Gold Concordat outlawed his worship. The statue of Talos, also known as Tiber Septim, had been replaced with a statue of Akatosh in his dragon form, much like the massive statue that stood in the Imperial City's ruined Temple District. As a worshipper of the Khajiiti pantheon and follower of the Riddle'Thar, J'Khasha didn't care one bit about the Divines or Talos, seeing them as cheap imitations of the real things, and a thinly veiled political ploy to curry favor with the old Septim dynasty. But he had a couple of Nord friends back in Chorrol who'd often get their breeches in a knot over it, and he learned to just nod and smile politely when they went on a rant about the ban.

They walked up a flight of stone stairs to the city's third level, where their destination, the Jerall View Inn, as well as the city's upper-class housing was located. Inside, the inn was nice and warm, J'Khasha could uncoil his tail and lower his hood. At this time of day, the inn was devoid of patrons, save for an elderly couple sharing a late breakfast. Behind the bar was a rather plump Nord woman, J'Khasha recognized her as the owner, Magda. Upon seeing the foursome walk through her door, Magda put on a huge smile. "Well, well, well! Look what the you dragged in!" She said, pointing at J'Khasha. "The Adventurers for Hire! Those new members?"

"Hello Magda!" J'Khasha said joyfully. "They're clients, hired us to take them to Skyrim."

Magda looked J'Khasha to Tsaravi and Gaius. "Well, you two coul'nae made a finer choice! These two helped me an' my little girl out of a real mess a few months back, an' no one could'a done it better!"

J'Khasha sat down at the bar. "And how is Helga?"

"Oh, she's doin' wonderful!" Magda said with a warm smile. "She's due next month, an' **so** much happier with Bjorn back in her life. Thanks so much for knockin' some sense in the fool! Y'know they wanna name the baby after you if it's a boy?"

J'Khasha had to stifle a laugh at the idea that one day, there would be a Nord with a Khajiit name running around. "Bjorn just needed some help out of a difficult situation, and a small push back in the right direction. And if they're still looking for girl names, Khayshara is the feminine version of my name."

"That's pretty!" Magda said. "I'll make sure to tell them. So, what can I do for you?"

Gazes sat next to J'Khasha. "We'd like a couple of rooms for the night." Gazes said. "We're headed into the Jeralls tomorrow, and this'll be our last chance to sleep with a roof over our heads for a good long while."

Magda pulled out a thick ledger from behind the bar and set it down with a thump. She opened it to a page marked with a blue ribbon, and ran her finger down the page. "Ah, you boys are in luck! I have exactly two rooms available, but you and your companions will have to share beds."

J'Khasha placed one hundred Septims on the bar, and pushed them to Magda. "That's no problem, we're just happy to be warm and dry tonight."

Magda took half the stacks of coins and pushed the rest back to J'Khasha. "After everything you boys did for me an' my kin, room and board's half-off for life!" She pulled out two iron rings, each with two keys, and a small piece of wood with a number burned into it hanging from them. "Here you are. Come back in an hour, the maid should have your rooms ready by then."

J'Khasha took the key rings, and saw they were for rooms two and three. "Thank you, Magda." He and Gazes walked back to Gaius and Tsaravi, J'Khasha handed them the number three ring, then gave Gazes the other key from the number two ring. "Everything's all set. Our rooms are downstairs, and should be ready in an hour. Until then, this is a good opportunity to get fresh supplies."

Gaius handed Tsaravi the other key. "I'm going to stay here and see about getting lunch first."

"Would it be alright if Tsaravi accompanied you J'Khasha?" Tsaravi asked.

J'Khasha was eager to spend more time with this young lovely, but he didn't want to seem over anxious, so he tried to answer in a calm, eloquent manner. "Oh, yes absolutely I'd be delighted to have you come along, nothing would make me happier, the more the merrier they say whoever 'they' are you know!" He rapidly spat out. Gazes looked at J'Khasha as though he had suddenly sprouted antlers out of his ears. J'Khasha mentally chastised himself. _'Gods, what is wrong with me?'_

Tsaravi chuckled lightly. "Tsaravi heard a 'yes' in their somewhere, lead on."

They left the inn and headed back to the city's first level, where the general store was located. Tsaravi walked next to J'Khasha while Gazes walked behind them, maintaining a **slightly** slower pace than them, so that by the time J'Khasha noticed, Gazes was almost ten feet behind, leaving J'Khasha and Tsaravi alone together. "So," Tsaravi said. "what was this 'mess' you got Magda and her daughter out of?"

"It was nothing." J'Khasha said. "Her daughter Helga became involved with a boy named Bjorn, and Helga fell pregnant. When Bjorn found out, he panicked and ran away, and somehow got it in his fool head to join a bandit gang. Magda hired us to bring him back, kicking and screaming if necessary. We tracked him to an old fort near Bruma. But it wasn't a bandit hideout anymore, the place had been completely overrun with necromancers! The fool got himself captured thinking bandits still ran the place. We dealt with the necromancers, and saved the fool just as they were going to kill him and harvest his soul, and maybe raise his corpse. He was so grateful, he came with us without a fuss, **and** he learned there are **far** more terrifying fates than fatherhood. As soon as we got back to Bruma, he and Helga got married."

"Gods, no wonder they're naming their cub after you!" Tsaravi said. "What did Magda mean by 'look what the you dragged in'?"

J'Khasha chuckled mirthlessly. "There's an old saying, 'look what the cat dragged in', I'm a Khajiit, so I'm the 'cat'. I let it slide because she means it in an affectionate way."

They reached the general store, the "Bursting Barrel". Inside, there were rows of tables with all manner of items for purchase. From everyday household objects, like pots and pans, to gear only an adventurer would appreciate, such as potions, lock picks, even a soul gem or two. A young Nord man was sitting behind the counter, and quickly stood up at the sight of J'Khasha and the others. "Ah, a trio of adventurers! Come, take a look around, I have **plenty** of stock that should interest you!"

While Gazes and Tsaravi took a look around, J'Khasha walked up to the Nord. "Do you have any maps of the Jerall Mountains, specifically Pale Pass and any other route into Skyrim?"

The shopkeeper began reaching around under the counter. "Oh, I have several good maps to choose from." He pulled one out and spread it out on the counter. "But this one may suit your needs the most. It has several color-coded routes, black is the safest and everyone uses, but it's also the longest, blue is confirmed shortcuts, but they're not **quite** safe, while red is for unconfirmed shortcuts, known only through rumor, and **very** dangerous. There's also landmarks and points of interest labeled. Fifty Septims."

J'Khahsa felt that was a more than fair price and paid the man. He joined Tsaravi and Gazes in their browsing. Tsaravi was carefully examining a mortar and pestle at a table cluttered with alchemical equipment. J'Khasha smacked himself in the forehead, suddenly remembering he had forgotten to pack his. So, he walked up next to Tsaravi, and checked out the other mortar and pestle sets on the table, tail twitching in agitation at making such a simple mistake.

Tsaravi looked over to J'Khasha. "You have an interest in alchemy as well?"

J'Khasha stilled his tail. "Well, insomuch as it can help with my profession. You'd be amazed at how many problems nightshade mixed with lotus seeds can solve."

"Oh, you make poisons?" Tsaravi asked.

J'Khasha found a crack in the set he was looking at, so he set it down and picked up a new one. "Yes, though sometimes I dabble in more beneficial mixes, poisons are my specialty. You don't have a problem with that, do you? I've found most people are uncomfortable with it."

"Of course, not." Tsaravi said. "Tsaravi focuses on restorative brews, but recognizes it's just one side of a single coin. You can't accept one without the other."

"Yes, exactly!" J'Khasha said enthusiastically. "Not many people see that. They learn I make poisons and think I'm evil or a coward."

"Tsaravi doesn't think you're an evil coward." Tsaravi said. "A coward wouldn't have fought that bear. And someone evil wouldn't have given this one half his Moon Sugar."

"Thank you." J'Khasha said. They continued their shopping, Tsaravi picked up the soul gems and some magicka potions. J'Khasha grabbed a box of lock picks as well as some salt. Gazes also bought some magicka potions.

Their next stop was the grocer. They bought enough food to hopefully last through the Jeralls. It would be quite a while before they'd have an opportunity to resupply, so they only bought food that would last a good long while, mostly vegetables with some salted meat in case hunting proved difficult.

Outside, Gazes readjusted his now heavier pack. "Our rooms are probably ready by now. We can head back to drop off our packs and grab some lunch."

"This one would certainly like that!" Tsaravi said.

J'Khasha was eager to get the weight of his pack off his back, and eat a meal he didn't have to prepare himself, but there was one more task he wanted to complete. "You two go on ahead, I'll catch up later, there's something personal I have to attend to."

"Ah, yes, I nearly forgot." Gazes said. "See you later then."

Tsaravi was more concerned. "Are you alright? Do you need help?"

"It's nothing bad." J'Khasha said. "Just something I feel I need to do whenever I'm in Bruma. As I said, I'll be back shortly."

Gazes and Tsaravi headed back to the inn, while J'Khasha went in the opposite direction towards the north gate. Even though it was still below freezing, it had warmed up considerably since they arrived that morning, so much so that J'Khasha no longer felt the need to keep his tail wrapped around his waist or his hood up. He walked past a group of children playing in the snow, throwing snowballs at each other from behind fortifications of snow. He smiled and chuckled to himself, remembering that less than a month earlier, he was playing such games with his cousins.

The children spotted J'Khasha and immediately stopped their game, clearly surprised and perhaps a little bit scared of this newcomer, he was most likely the first Khajiit any of them had ever seen in person. They stared at each other for a moment, just as J'Khasha was about to move on, the youngest of them, a little girl not much older than his cousin Ma'Seraad ran up to him, to the protest of her friends. "Hi!" She said cheerfully with a big grin. "Are you a Kajit?"

J'Khasha had to laugh at the forwardness of this little girl, and the mispronunciation of his race. "Well hello yourself! And yes, I am a **Khajiit**." He said, putting great emphasis on the proper pronunciation of his race. He held out his hand. "The name's J'Khasha."

She shook his hand vigorously, or at least tried to as her hand was half the size of his. "Wow! I never met a Ka-jeet before! Your fur is so soft and warm! What's it like to have a tail? Is it true you only eat sugar? Those are neat knives! Are you an adventurer? My daddy's an adventurer! Do you know him?" She was speaking quite rapidly. Before J'Khasha could answer a question, she'd ask another!

After a minute of this, a Nord woman came out of a nearby house. "Greta! Leave that man alone! I told you not to talk to strangers! Get back in the house this instant!"

"But Mama-!" Greta said.

"Now!" The woman said. Greta gave a sad wave, hung her head low, and walked back to her house. The woman walked up to J'Khasha. "I'm sorry about that. My Greta can become a little overenthusiastic about meeting new people."

J'Khasha had expected to get a good talking to, and was surprised this woman was **apologizing** to him. "It was no trouble at all. She kind of reminds me of my cousin, he too can be a little **too** friendly with strangers. I'm sorry if I got her in trouble."

"You didn't, she did." The woman said. "And don't worry, I'm only going to give her a stern talking to. Good day." She went back into her house, and J'Khasha continued on his way.

A short while later, J'Khasha reached his destination, a large statue of an Imperial man in his early twenties. He was shown wearing heavy armor. In his right hand, he held a great sword planted in the ground. In his left, a sphere J'Khasha understood to be a "Great Sigil Stone", the power source for the Daedric Siege Engine that nearly destroyed Bruma at the end of the Oblivion Crisis. This was Nero Leonidas, the Hero of Kvatch, the Savior of Bruma, friend of Martin Septim, and the Champion of Cyrodiil. It was a well-known legend in Chorrol that the Champion often stayed at the Oak and Crosier during his adventures, but there was another part of the legend that was only known to J'Khasha's family. A part that suggested the Champion would stay there for **more** than the luxurious accommodations. A part that, if true, would have significant implications for J'Khasha's heritage.

J'Khasha stepped up to the statue and knelt before it in reverence as was customary. Just as when he visited the statue before, there were several offerings that had been left at the base, out of respect for the Champion, and for luck. There were low-quality weapons and armor that one wouldn't mind parting with, a couple of health potions, and even a Welkynd Stone, a powerful Ayleid artifact. J'Khasha looked up to the statue. _'Long before you were the Champion, you were a mercenary and adventurer like me. Things are nice, but I know what you really want.'_ He left ten Septims at the base. _'Wish me luck on my journey.'_ He stood up, and returned to the inn.

Later that evening, J'Khasha, Gazes, Tsaravi, and Gaius got together for dinner in the inn's main hall. As they ate their meals, they exchanged stories of their past adventures. Tsaravi was telling a rather humorous story from her time at the Ayleid ruin Moranda, of when she volunteered to be the test subject for her fellow hedge-mage's ambitious experimental spells. "You're serious?" J'Khasha said with a laugh. "She actually turned you into a **mermaid**!"

Tsaravi chuckled at the memory. "Mermaid is a bit of an exaggeration. Tsaravi's hands and feet turned into fins, fish scales covered her entire body, and gills opened up on this one's neck! Tsaravi laughs about it now, since it turned out all right, but that was a truly frightening experience, especially since this one could no longer breathe air!"

"Well clearly she was able to turn you back." Gazes said.

Tsaravi laughed mirthlessly. "No, she wasn't. While Tsaravi was keeping her head submerged in a tub of water to keep from 'air drowning', that ambitious fool kept casting spell after spell on this one to no avail. Fortunately, Gaius walked in on the mess and was able to help out. He was always the most powerful among us, so he was able to work a solution quite quickly. This one cannot properly express how relieved she was to be back to normal. Unfortunately, this did leave Tsaravi completely **bald**!"

J'Khasha nearly choked on his ale. "No!"

Gaius laughed heartily. "Oh, yes! For nearly two months afterward, she looked like one of those hairless Sphynx cats!" Tsaravi covered her face in embarrassment as Gaius continued. "That's how I learned that Khajiiti fur patterns are on their skin as well."

Tsaravi shook her head at Gaius. "Tsaravi still has no idea how you furless ones manage it. Every day for those two months, this one was certain she would catch her death of cold!"

Just then, the inn's doors opened, and J'Khasha saw two familiar figures walk through. "Oh, damn it! Why today, of all days!"

"What's wrong?" Tsaravi asked as she turned around to see what upset J'Khasha so much. One of the newcomers was a rather large Nord man with fiery red hair, kept in a tight ponytail and long bushy beard that went down to his chest. He was wearing a full set of iron armor, and was armed with a war axe and shield, and a hunting bow. His companion was a Bosmer with blond hair kept in a warrior's stripe. He was wearing leather armor, and armed with an ebony bow, and a sword of elven make. J'Khasha recognized them as Odin Hammer-Hand, and his idiot pal Glaugluin, or Glue as Odin called him.

"Guess who's back everybody?" Odin bellowed as he took off his helmet.

"ODIN!" The other patrons shouted.

"Ha! Another tie! Guess no one gets a prize this time!" Odin said to the laughter of all but J'Khasha and Gazes.

"How's life treatin' ya Hammer-Hand?" Magda asked with a smile.

"Like I made a fat joke about his mom!" Odin said as he walked up to the bar. "Give us mead and roast goat!" He turned and faced J'Khasha. "Hey, Glue! Look who it is! J'Khasha and Gazes-At-Stars!" He walked up to their table and gave J'Khasha a loud slap on the back, knocking the wind out of J'Khasha, as well as causing him to spill his drink and drop the last bit of his meat pie on the floor. "So, what brings the Adventurers for Hire to Bruma? Did you reconsider my idea?"

J'Khasha wiped the ale off his vest. "We're here on a job Odin. And our answer's still no."

Odin knelt down to be eye level with J'Khasha. "Oh, come on! This could easily make us a lot of money! With the Adventurers for Hire name and our skill, we could really clean up fast! Plus, you wouldn't have to work around Bruma anymore, which I know you hate. And we'd give you twenty percent of our payout, so you could sit back and just make money!"

"Yes," J'Khasha said. "and if it works here, we'll try it in Kvatch, and Skingrad, and so on until there's an Adventurers for Hire branch in every city in Cyrodiil. Then they'll charge their clients an extra twenty percent to make up what they pay us, then before we know it, Cyrodiil has **two** Fighters Guilds, and the one is already more trouble than it's worth. So, I say again, no."

Odin stood up, disappointment etched on his face. "Come on Glue. Let's go eat." They walked off to the far side of the hall.

Gaius watched them leave. "What in Oblivion was that about?"

"Don't worry about it." Gazes said. "Those two have some crazy idea about franchising the Adventurers for Hire. I'm against it because I think they just want to ride the coattails of our renown, and J'Khasha thinks we'll become snobby and elitist like the Fighters Guild has become."

J'Khasha finished off his ale. "Every so often, we run into them and they pester us about it. The conversation pretty much goes the way you saw each time. Another benefit of going to Skyrim, we won't have to deal with them for a while."

They finished their meals and retired to their rooms for the night. J'Khasha stripped down to just his shirt and under garment, while Gazes was down to his pants. They both settled into the double bed, neither minding having to share. Within ten minutes, Gazes began hissing softly, which J'Khasha knew meant he had already fallen asleep. For as long as he could remember, J'Khasha always had great difficulty getting to sleep, so he knew it would be a while before he drifted off himself.

A short while later, Gazes began mumbling in his sleep. "No…no…get away…don't touch her…stay away from her…bastards…get away bastards…" Gazes' mother, Keeshein, had warned J'Khasha about this before they left Chorrol. Gazes had been plagued by nightmares, ever since the day necromancers murdered his girlfriend and her family, and he arrived just too late to save her. Wasn't it bad enough that it happened? Now he has to relive it in his sleep? J'Khasha said a silent prayer to S'Rendarr, the god of mercy, that this trip to Skyrim gives his friend the healing he needs. Not long after, J'Khasha too drifted off to sleep.

To be continued…


	5. Road to Winterhold Chapter 5

Adventurers for Hire:

The Road to Winterhold Part 5

2 Rain's Hand 4E 200

The Jerall Mountains, the natural boundary between Cyrodiil and Skyrim. There are few paths through these treacherous, windswept, and snowy peaks, and those that **are** there are labyrinthine and easy to lose yourself in if you're not careful. Amid the jagged crags, two tiny figures were crouched in the snow behind a boulder, downwind from a deer they had been tracking all morning. The green scaled, purple feathered Argonian, Gazes-At-Stars, watched his best friend and fellow Adventurer for Hire, the black furred Khajiit, J'Khasha, apply a freshly brewed paralysis poison to one of his arrows, while listening to the shivering Suthay-Raht's angry muttering. "'Let's take a shortcut!' he says, 'What's life without a little risk?' he says. He calls this living? We've got one, **maybe** two meals worth of food left. For three days now we've had to resort to drinking snow, and I almost choke on a fucking pebble! If we stuck to the black route like I wanted, we'd have been in Skyrim yesterday! But **no** , we had to take that crawly infested 'shortcut'!"

Gazes couldn't blame his friend for being angry. Ever since they took that damned "shortcut", things have gone from bad to worse. What should have shaved off a couple of days, has actually **added** at least a week, so far. Gazes realized he should've kept his mouth shut and just listened to J'Khasha. He shouldn't have convinced Tsaravi and Gaius to agree with him over J'Khasha. Maybe then, they wouldn't be so hopelessly lost in the mountains.

Eleven days earlier.

22 First Seed 4E 200

It had been a few days since they had entered the Jeralls proper, apart from a brief run-in with an ice wolf pack, the journey had been rather uneventful. There had been a slight incident at the Imperial Legion checkpoint, housed in a refurbished Akaviri fortress at the entrance to Pale Pass. Some Legion Auxiliary trying to make Questor, attempted to detain them over J'Khasha and Tsaravi's Moon Sugar, completely ignoring the law's provision allowing Khajiit to carry it for cultural and religious puposes. After spending several hours in a dungeon, the garrison commander released them, and in apology offered them free lodgings for the night. After that delay, it had been clear sailing. On J'Khasha's insistence, they stuck to the black route on his map, which was the main road through Pale Pass. The road was slow and winding, often taking them **south** at some points! After four days of this, Gazes was losing his patience and decided to speak with J'Khasha about it. "Hey J'Khasha? That map has shortcuts marked on it, right? Why not use the next one we come across?"

J'Khasha sighed wearily, and his tail began swishing rapidly from side to side in what Gazes had come to recognize as annoyance. "Because these shortcuts can be dangerous, and we were hired to bring those two to Winterhold **safely**. Besides, most of these shortcuts are only rumored, and there's probably a good reason for that."

Gazes would not be deterred. He felt a little danger would be a welcome diversion from the mind-numbing tedium and aggravation that came from following the main road. "Come on! Let's take a shortcut! What's life without a little risk?"

J'Khasha scowled and hissed at Gazes, causing the Argonian to jump. "Even **if** I wanted to take one of these shortcuts, which I **don't** , it's up to Tsaravi and Gaius which way we take in the end."

And with that, Gazes found the opportunity he had been looking for. He knew that their clients weren't exactly pleased with the twisty nature of the road, and he knew he could use that to his advantage. "All right, everyone hold up!" He said to the group, causing everyone to stop. "I think we should reconsider the route we've been taking."

"I agree." Gaius said. "Today alone, this road has taken us south three times. We seem to be going nowhere **slowly**!"

"We're travelling through mountainous terrain," J'Khasha said. "there are just some places that are too steep for a road to go through, so it has to go around. Sometimes that means going the wrong direction for a bit."

Gazes would have none of that. "And I say when that happens, we should take the shortcuts on that map of yours that let us keep going in the right direction."

"I'm with Gazes on this one." Gaius said. "This road was laid out with horse-drawn carriages loaded with trade goods in mind, not four adventurers on foot."

Gazes was elated at how easily Gaius came to his side, now all he had to do was convince Tsaravi. It wouldn't be easy, he was certain she would be more inclined to agree with J'Khasha, considering how close they had become over the last couple of weeks. Gazes partly had himself to blame for that, considering he had been doing what he could to push them together after seeing how smitten J'Khasha was with her.

J'Khasha tried to press his case. "Look, I admit it's slow-going, and yes it's irritating that we have to take these roundabout ways. But this road is the safest way to go, and I think we should stick with it."

Gazes turned to Tsaravi. "Tsaravi, you've been awfully quiet, what do you think?" He hated putting her on the spot like this, especially when the golden furred Khajiit began frantically looking back and forth between J'Khasha and Gaius, clearly conflicted.

After a moment, Tsaravi hung her head low, appearing to come to a difficult decision. "This one thinks… we should take the shortcuts." The pain in her voice was obvious, making Gazes feel even worse. Gazes was somewhat, but not very surprised that Tsaravi sided against J'Khasha so quickly. Perhaps he had underestimated her annoyance with the road. Hopefully, it wasn't a sign he had overestimated her feelings for J'Khasha.

J'Khasha sighed wearily once again. "Fine, I'm a big enough man to admit defeat." He unslung his pack, and pulled out his map. But I want it noted that I think this is a **really** bad idea!" He walked over to a nearby boulder with a relatively flat surface and spread out the map. Everyone gathered to take a look. The map was of the Jerall Mountains, a black line curved and zig-zagged through the mountains far more than Gazes realized, a few blue lines and many more red lines branched off from the black to meet up with it at a later point.

"So where are we in this mess?" Gazes asked.

"We're about here." J'Khasha said, placing the tip of his claw about a third of the way along the black route. Gazes was disheartened, he thought for sure they were at least half-way through by now. "And the next blue shortcut seems to be about two miles ahead of us. If it's accurate, it should shave a few hours off our journey."

Gaius pointed to another route. "Why not take this red path? It's closer, and it reconnects much further along the road than the route you've suggested."

J'Khasha shook his head. "Red routes are only **rumored** shortcuts. We have no way of knowing if they'll get us back to the road, or how dangerous they are. Blue routes are the safest bet, so that's the way we're going." He put the map away, and put his pack back on.

A half-hour later, they reached the shortcut. It was rough and narrow, barely a trail really. At times, it would become a steep incline they had to climb more than walk. After a little more than an hour, they had returned to the road. Gazes put a hand on J'Khasha's shoulder. "See?" Gazes said. "That wasn't bad at all! Come on, pull out that map and let's get to the next shortcut!"

J'Khasha pulled out his map and grinned in a manner Gazes hadn't seen since Bruma. "I'll admit, that was a very effective shortcut. Okay the next one is just around the bend. Should shave half a day!"

For the next three days, they continued this pattern of taking a shortcut, following the road to the next shortcut, and repeating. The only real problem they had was when Tsaravi tripped on a rock, and hurt her knee and wrist, but after healing herself and resting for the day, they were able to move on.

26 First Seed 4E 200

On the fourth morning since they started taking shortcuts, Gazes was looking over the map. He could see they were now three quarters of the way through. If they stayed on the road, they'd reach the border in two or three days. There were no more blue shortcuts to take, but there was one red route, one that, if accurate, would take them close to the end in just over a day. "Gossamer Weaver's Cave." Gazes read aloud. "Odd name." Everyone was packing up camp, as they did this, Gazes walked over to J'Khasha, who was packing away his cookware from that morning's breakfast. "So J'Khasha," Gazes said. "it seems taking those shortcuts wasn't the disaster in the making you thought it'd be."

J'Khasha closed up his pack, and strapped his bedroll on top, then shrugged. "I'll admit, we've made fantastic time, and the worst that happened was Tsaravi's hurt knee. We should've started taking shortcuts sooner."

"I'm glad to hear that!" Gazes said. "Because I've been looking over the map, and I've found a final shortcut we can take. One that'll take us practically to the end of the Pass."

J'Khasha gave Gazes a quizzical look. "I've had that map for over a week Gazes, and I know for a fact that there are no more blue routes to-." J'Khasha's eyes widened, his fur puffed out, and his ears folded back against his head. "NO!" He snarled and bared his teeth as he stood up. "There's no telling if that route is even real! And Alkosh knows what we'd face there!" Tsaravi and Gaius' attention was drawn to the commotion as they finished packing their things.

Gazes stood his ground. "J'Khasha, this route could get us to Skyrim **tomorrow**!"

J'Khasha's fur settled, and he spoke in a calmer voice. "We've already made good time. If we stay on the road, we'll be there only an additional two, three days later than we first thought."

"If there's a route that'll get us to Skyrim tomorrow," Gaius said. "I think we should take it."

"Gaius," J'Khasha said. "you don't understand. This shortcut isn't like the ones we've been taking. This one is only **rumored** , and I **really** don't like the look of that name, 'Gossamer Weaver's Cave'."

Tsaravi walked up to J'Khasha, and placed a hand on his shoulder. Gazes couldn't help but notice how much more relaxed J'Khasha's stance became every time she did that. "Clan-Mate, this one understands your apprehension." She said in that thick accent and manner that revealed her Elsweyr origins. "You had similar doubt over the shortcuts we've been taking, but you've seen they've turned out all right. If it doesn't take us back to the road, we'll just go back the way we came. And if it's dangerous, we're not defenseless, we'll overcome it. Tsaravi **knows** you will keep us safe!"

J'Khasha lowered his head and sighed wearily, he was doing that a lot lately, and said: "All right, we'll take the cave."

"Great!" Gazes said. "Like I always say, what's life without a little risk?"

The glare J'Khasha gave Gazes at that moment would've caused a Xivilai to run screaming from him. _'He'll see.'_ Gazes thought. _'When we're in Skyrim tomorrow, he'll be singing my praises.'_

They arrived at Gossamer Weaver's Cave just before mid-day, and even Gazes had to admit that there was a sinister feel to the place. Gazes could see J'Khasha's tail was twitching and his jaw was tightly clenched, he seemed ready to again protest this course when Tsaravi placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled reassuringly. J'Khasha calmed and returned the smile. Moments later, they were inside the cave. Gazes and Gaius summoned magical orbs of light to illuminate their path, while J'Khasha and Tsaravi, with their superior Khajiit eyesight, needed no such aid.

They walked single file down the narrow passage with J'Khasha in the lead, followed by Gazes, Tsaravi, and Gaius taking the rear. In the glow of his Candlelight spell, Gazes could see J'Khasha's ears twitching in every direction, listening for potential threats. The passage twisted and turned quite a bit, but remained straight forward, rarely branching off. When it did, J'Khasha would stealthily scout each tunnel to determine which one they should follow, and Tsaravi would cast Detect Life to give him advanced warning of potential threats. It was during one of these scouts, several hours in, that the group learned the origin of the name Gossamer Weaver's Cave.

It had been five minutes since J'Khasha went to scout a tunnel that branched off their right, when he came running back out of breath, more frightened than Gazes had ever seen him before. "What is it? What's wrong?" Gazes asked.

"Spi-spiders!" J'Khasha stammered breathlessly. " **Huge** ones! Small ones! And **lots** of them, crawling everywhere! AGGHH!" He suddenly cried out, his eyes wider than Gazes thought physically possible. J'Khasha reached behind his neck, and pulled out the source of his distress, a long strand of webbing that got caught in his mane. "It's all right, thought it was another crawly, but it's just a thing! Just a thing!"

Gazes couldn't believe this was the same Khajiit that took on that bear a week earlier. "Why're you getting so worked up? We've faced spiders before!"

J'Khasha shook his head frantically. "Not like these!" He grabbed Gazes by the arms, digging his claws into the Argonian's biceps. "WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE **NOW**!"

Gazes was about to say something when he was stopped by a rumbling sound from all sides. Gazes got out of J'Khasha's grasp and cast Magelight down the tunnel J'Khasha came from, where the noise was loudest. The light was immediately blocked by dozens, no **hundreds** of dog sized spiders! At the same time, Gaius had cast his own Magelight down the tunnel behind them and a similar sight greeted them, and both swarms were closing in **fast**!

"Oh, fuck me!" Gazes whispered.

"RUN!" Gaius screamed.

The four scrambled down the tunnel ahead of them, not caring what, if anything, was waiting for them, acting purely from the fight or flight response which was telling them unequivocally to **fly**! The rumbling grew louder as the spiders drew nearer, Gazes even began to **feel** it in his bones. They quickly found themselves in a large cavern that was the intersection for several tunnels, and all of them had swarms of spiders charging out of them. They were trapped!

The spiders completely surrounded the four. Gazes, Gaius, and Tsaravi cast Stoneflesh on themselves and J'Khasha. Tsaravi cast Fury on random spiders to get some of them to fight each other in a desperate attempt to even their odds. Gaius conjured a demonic looking woman made of fire, a Flame Atronach. Gazes summoned his own denizen of Oblivion, a Clanfear, a vicious, bipedal, lizard-like creature with razor-sharp claws, and an armor-piercing beak.

"At least it's a thousand to six instead of a thousand to four!" J'Khasha quipped.

Tsaravi gave a small laugh. "Technically, it's five hundred to three!"

The summoned Daedra charged into the fray, unhindered by the fear of death, taking out scores of foes. Tsaravi used her staff to hurl Fireballs into the horde, conserving her Magicka for healing and support spells. Gaius used his own Magicka to dual cast even more powerful and devastating Fireballs. Gazes launched Lightning Bolts, and finished the survivors with his sword, while J'Khasha eviscerated any spider fool enough to attack him.

After prolonged fighting, they managed to take out over half the swarm, but the combat is starting to take its toll on the adventurers, they are exhausted, low on Magicka and Stamina. Gazes realized there was no way they could win, even their summoned Daedra had fallen. _'We're going to die.'_ He thought. _'There's no way out of this, and it's all my fault.'_ He closed his eyes, and said good-bye to his parents, as well as J'Khasha's family whom he considered a second family, and prepared to return to the Hist, and hopefully his love, Jeetra-Skein.

That's when, without warning, the spiders suddenly scattered and retreated into the tunnels. "Where're they going?" Gazes asked, dumbfounded. "They had us dead to rights!" In the new, eerie silence, he became aware of a strange thumping sound.

J'Khasha and Tsaravi's ears began to twitch, and they both looked up to the ceiling. "Um, guys?" J'Khasha said. "Remember how I said there were huge **and** small spiders?" He gestured to the tunnels. "Well, those were the **small** spiders!"

"Dark Moons!" Tsaravi exclaimed.

Gazes and Gaius looked up just in time to see an absolutely **massive** spider drop down on top of them. The four just barely managed to roll out of the way before it crashed down. It let out a loud hiss and clamped down on Gaius' leg. Gaius screamed out in pain, and seconds later, collapsed to the ground. "I CAN'T MOVE!" He screamed, as the Massive Spider began to pull him away.

J'Khasha struck at one of the great beast's legs with his daggers, only to get knocked back into a stalagmite. The spider dragged Gaius down one of the larger tunnels, with him crying out in terror the whole way.

"GAIUS!" Tsaravi screamed in anguish before breaking down in tears.

Gazes was paralyzed with fear, until his mind became flooded with memories. He saw a farm in Blackwood, in the garden were two Argonian men, dead. Men who, just a week before, had half-jokingly called him their new egg-brother. In the entryway was the body of a middle-aged Argonian man, who once told Gazes he couldn't imagine a finer partner for his hatchling. In the kitchen, the body of an Argonian woman that always warmly welcomed Gazes into her home. Clutched protectively in her arms, an Argonian girl no older than five, who wanted to be an Adventurer for Hire when she grew up. And finally, the image that haunted his dreams, an Argonian woman about his age, his beloved Jeetra-Skein, whom he had saved from trolls two months earlier. She was lying on the ground, shrouded in a purple aura, reaching out to him, and weakly calling his name. Standing over her was an Altmer in black robes. The sadistic bastard held a Black Soul Gem in one hand, and a dagger in the other. Just as he plunged his blade into Jeetra-Skein's heart, Gazes snapped back to reality. "Not again!" He whispered. "NOT AGAIN!" He shouted as he charged down the tunnel Gaius had been taken.

"GAZES!" J'Khasha shouted, which Gazes ignored.

Gazes followed the tunnel for what felt like an eternity, until he came to a new chamber. The walls were completely covered in spider webs. There were bundles of various sizes, including a few people sized ones, hanging from the webs. Gazes felt a strong breeze in the chamber, but ignored it to focus on the task at hand. In the center of the chamber, the spider held Gaius in its forelimbs as it wrapped the Imperial in webbing for later consumption. It hadn't noticed Gazes yet, he gripped his sword with both hands, charged the spider, and with one powerful slash chopped off the beast's right forelimb. With a screech, the spider dropped its prize, and turned to face its attacker. Gazes, still low on Magicka, was forced to use his weakest spell, Sparks, and shot out crackling bolts of electricity into the spiders many eyes. The spider screeched again, and bit Gazes' wrist. Gazes yelled out as he felt the spider's venom being pumped into his veins, his Argonian physiology would protect him from the worst of the poison, but that didn't prevent his left arm from hanging lifelessly at his side when the spider released it. The spider then knocked Gazes to the ground.

The spider stood over Gazes, and prepared a killing blow, when suddenly an arrow flew into its eye, and the spider backed away screeching. Gazes twisted his head around to see J'Khasha standing at the entrance, quickly nocking another arrow, while Tsaravi quickly ran over to Gaius to try and release his bindings. J'Khasha fired another arrow into the spider, and another, and another. Gazes grabbed his sword, and hacked away at the beast, while J'Khasha filled it with arrows. The beast was on its last legs, (literally, it was down to three at this point) when a Fireball exploded next to the spider, setting it ablaze. It writhed in agony for several seconds before forever going still. Gazes looked over to the source of the Fireball, to see Tsaravi standing next to a now free, if wobbly, Gaius, with a fierce expression on her face, pointing her crescent moon topped staff at the spider. Once they were certain the spider was dead, they all breathed a collective sigh of relief.

At that moment, J'Khasha started laughing, then Gaius, followed immediately by Tsaravi, and even Gazes joined in. "Why are we laughing? Ha-ha-ha!" Gazes asked.

"Isn't it obvious? Ha-ha-ha!" J'Khasha said. "We're completely screwed! Ha-ha-ha! We can't go back the way we came because of the spiders! Ha-ha-ha! We can't even leave this room because the spi-heh-heh-heh-ders probably-he-he-he regrouped in the last room by now!" The four laughed for another minute before composing themselves. "So, as I said, we have a problem."

The breeze Gazes felt earlier ruffled his feathers, which made him realize something. "Not necessarily. Haven't you felt that breeze? That means there's outside air coming into this chamber from somewhere. There's a way outside in this room!"

J'Khasha had a look of determination on his face. "Everyone, check behind the webbing. Look for an opening!"

They scattered to different points along the cavern walls, clearing out as much webbing as they could. Feeling was starting to return to Gazes' left arm, and he could now open and close his fist, but his arm remained limp at his side. Gaius had been helped by Tsaravi's Restoration magic, but occasionally he'd stumble and retch. After a few minutes of searching, Tsaravi called out. "Everyone, Tsaravi has found it!" They converged on her location, and indeed, behind some webbing she had cleared, there was a tunnel with a strong, cold breeze emanating from it. Tsaravi cast a Detect Life spell. "It's clear." They carefully went down the tunnel, seeing no better option. For hours, they followed the tunnel, encountering no more spiders, or any other life for that matter, and all the while, the breeze was getting stronger and colder, they must've been getting closer to an exit. Gazes' next step made a crunching sound, he looked down and saw the ground was covered in snow, they were almost out! They quickened their pace, and soon enough, they could see a dim, pale light in the distance. A minute later, they were out of the cave. The sky was overcast, and it was snowing, but the purple glow revealed it was early morning, they had travelled all through the day and night. They cheered for their victory, but their celebration was short-lived as they came to a terrible realization: the road was nowhere to be seen. To make matters worse, the overcast sky meant they couldn't tell which way was north. They were well and truly lost.

2 Rain's Hand 4E 200

"We're too far away!" Gazes whispered. "You're going to miss!"

J'Khasha kept his bow aimed at the doe on the ridge. "I'm **not** going to miss!" He whispered back, not turning to face Gazes. "Any closer, we'll spook her. And you're not here to give advice, but carry that thing back to camp as punishment for stranding us out here." It had been a week since the disastrous "shortcut" at Gossamer Weaver's Cave, and they seemed no closer to getting out of the Jeralls as they did then. With their food supply dangerously low, catching this deer was essential, her meat could keep them fed for days. J'Khasha drew back his bow, Gazes closed his eyes, not wishing to witness the next disaster to befall his group, and heard the twang of the bowstring being released.

That night, the four feasted on roast venison, while Gazes was fed a side order of crow. "'You're gonna miss!'" J'Khasha said, mocking Gazes. "'We're too far back!' Clearly, we were, seeing how we're **not** eating this deer right now!" They laughed, and Gazes couldn't help but join in. He was glad they could remain jovial, despite the seriousness of their situation. Also that they weren't so angry with him anymore over the "shortcut", although they **did** occasionally snipe him for it from time to time.

3 Rain's Hand 4E 200

Mid-morning on the following day, they were walking in a generally northern direction as they had been since the sky cleared, when J'Khasha suddenly shouted out. "Hey Gazes, come here!" Gazes climbed up onto the rock on which J'Khasha was standing. "Remember the road? The one that would've taken **three** days to follow?" J'Khasha pointed down the slope, and at the bottom was the main road through the Jeralls. And Gazes could also see, a few miles down the road, the gate which marked the official border to Skyrim. They had finally made it through the Jeralls.

Gazes chuckled mirthlessly. "You're **never** going to let me live this down, are you?"

"Are you kidding?" J'Khasha said with his mischievous grin. "Even when we're old and fat, I'll **still** be bringing this up! And I'll tell my grandcubs to tell **their** grandcubs!"

To be continued…


	6. Road to Winterhold Chapter 6

Adventurers for Hire:

The Road to Winterhold Pt 6

4 Rain's Hand 4E 200

 _Dear Family,_

 _We have arrived in Skyrim, and we're still alive! No need to worry Mama! Right now, we're staying in a little border town called Helgen. Just picture an Imperial fort with a few houses and a tavern crammed in the courtyard and you'll get a good idea of what the place looks like. We'll be staying here to recover from the rough trip we had through the Jerall Mountains. Don't be alarmed, we just had a little run-in with some spiders, then got a little lost after taking a shortcut that turned out to not be a shortcut. We're fine now, obviously, seeing as I'm writing home now. As I said before I left, I have rented a post box at the Census and Excise Office here, the address to which you'll find enclosed with this letter, so you can write back to me. I'll check my mail as often as I can, I'm thinking every Morndas if I'm in the area, and I_ _plan_ _to write home at least once a week. I love and miss you all. Even you Risha. And I hope you're all doing well._

 _-J'Khasha_

 _P.S. Gazes wants me to tell you he sends his love as well._

J'Khasha folded up the letter to his family and placed it in the envelope with the letter he had already written to his little cousin Ma'Seraad, as well as a small piece of paper with the address to his new post box written on it. He sealed the envelope with wax from his candle, then placed the envelope in his vest pocket. He wanted to send his letters as soon as possible, it would likely take a courier two weeks to deliver them home to Chorrol, and his mother Zaikhala would likely start to worry long before that. J'Khasha chuckled, realizing in all likelihood, his mother was worrying for him even before he left the city walls!

J'Khasha blew out the candle, stood up from the common table, and made his way to the staircase. Unlike the Oak and Crosier and the Jerall View Inn, the Helgen Homestead, the tavern where the Adventurers for Hire and their clients were staying, didn't rent out rooms but beds. The entire second floor of the tavern was a large single room where all the beds were kept in a row. Each bed had its own end table with a candle, and between each bed was a room divider to provide some modicum of privacy for guests. The other half of the room was taken up by a long communal table with benches. Downstairs, J'Khasha could see the lunch crowd was starting to arrive, mostly consisting of Legion soldiers. His best friend and fellow Adventurer for Hire, Gazes-At-Stars, was sitting at the bar chatting with Vilod, the tavern's owner and brewer of a fantastic Juniper Berry Mead that J'Khasha just couldn't get enough of. So much so, J'Khasha wanted to be sure to bring a few bottles home with him, to share with his family, when they pass through here on the way home next year.

Tsaravi, one of the mages they were escorting to the College of Winterhold, was sitting at one of the tables enjoying a bowl of soup. Instead of her usual hooded black robes, she was wearing a simple burgundy blouse with a matching skirt that J'Khasha thought looked **really** good on her. She was also wearing an amulet of two crescent moons, the larger one was copper, while the smaller was silver. Obviously, a depiction of the moons Jone and Jode, which were central to Khajiiti belief, and indeed their very lives, as the phase of the moons at birth determines the form a Khajiit will take for life. She looked up from her soup and smiled at J'Khasha. "Hello! Did you finish your letters home?"

J'Khasha smiled back, and pulled the envelope out of his vest pocket to show Tsaravi. "Just going to send them now. Hopefully, they'll get home before everyone gets **too** worried. May I ask, do you have anyone to write home to? Parents, siblings?" Then a worrying thought crossed his mind. "Boyfriend? Cute boyfriend?"

"No!" Tsaravi snapped, which caused her to fold her ears forward in sadness. "No, Tsaravi no longer has a family." She said with a catch in her throat, as she held her amulet.

J'Khasha felt terrible for inadvertently causing her pain. He sat next to her on the bench. "I'm so sorry. I had no idea. How long have they been dead?"

Tsaravi looked up at him, confused. "What?" Then realization dawned on her face. "Oh! That's not what Tsaravi meant! Although this one's mother died many years ago, the rest of Tsaravi's family is still alive. What Tsaravi meant was that her family disowned her."

J'Khasha was shocked at what he just heard. "You're one of the nicest people I have ever met, I have trouble imagining anyone even disliking you, let alone your own **family** hating you enough to disown you!"

She began to cry. "Neither could Tsaravi!" She buried her face into her hands and her sobs became louder.

J'Khasha tentatively put his arm around her shoulder, and she immediately hugged him around his waist, and cried into his shoulder. After a few minutes, she calmed down, but kept J'Khasha in a tight embrace. "What happened?" He asked.

Tsaravi, still leaning her head on J'Khasha's shoulder, took a deep shuddering breath. "Tsaravi's father," She said quietly. "was her tribe's chieftain, and a staunch supporter of the Thalmor and the Aldmeri Dominion." J'Khasha knew all too well of the Aldmeri Dominion, the powerful country on the Empire's southern border comprised of the former provinces of Summerset Isles, Valenwood, and Tsaravi's own Elsweyr, now Annequina and Pelletine. During the Great War between the Dominion and the Empire, his father lost his arm and nearly died in the war's last climactic battle fighting for the Empire. As for the Thalmor, he only knew them as the agency enforcing the Talos worship ban in the Empire. "Tsaravi's mother never trusted either one, and passed this doubt to this one. When Mother died under suspicious circumstances, Tsaravi blamed the Thalmor, and spoke out against them and the Dominion. When others in the tribe began to listen to Tsaravi, Father…" She choked back a sob. "Father **banished** her from the tribe! He chose the Thalmor over his own **daughter**! The whole tribe, even Tsaravi's twin sister and baby brother, turned against her and ran her off with nothing but the clothes on her back, her mother's amulet, and her grandmother's staff."

J'Khasha found himself crying at the tale. "Gods, that's awful! I'm so sorry that I brought this up!"

Tsaravi released J'Khasha, and wiped away her tears as she sat up straight. "It's quite all right. You had no way of knowing, and it actually felt good to talk about it. Gaius is the only other one Tsaravi has told."

"I'm honored that you shared that with me." J'Khasha said. "You clearly survived that ordeal, since you're sitting here."

Tsaravi took a swig of her Juniper Berry Mead before continuing. "Tsaravi made her way to Bravil, in Cyrodiil, doing odd jobs on the way. It was at Bravil that Tsaravi learned of the Synod. She found a trade caravan heading to the Imperial City, and offered her services in exchange for passage. You know the rest of the story. The Synod didn't teach us, met Gaius, went to Ayleid ruin to teach ourselves, met you and Gazes, and here we are." Tsaravi finished off the last of her mead, J'Khasha could tell she was a **little** bit tipsy. "Tsaravi envies you, you know? Having such a large, close-knit family. During this one's stay at the Oak and Crosier, this one could see how much you love each other. Tsaravi's family was like that before Mother's passing drove us apart" She stood up and bowed her head to J'Khasha. "Thank you for listening, and sorry for being so melancholy. You were just trying to make small-talk, and this one goes into her life story!"

J'Khasha stood up and placed a hand on her shoulder, which caused her ears to perk right back up. "You have nothing to apologize for, I enjoy talking to you. After everything we've been through, I consider you more than a client, I consider you my friend, and you can always confide in me."

Tsaravi looked up at him and smiled. "Tsaravi considers you a friend as well! And you can confide in her! If you'll excuse this one, she needs to be alone for a little while. See you at dinner."

J'Khasha watched her go upstairs. Once she was out of sight, he left the tavern. Outside, there were only a handful of people milling about. Helgen was a quiet little town, apart from the Imperial Legion garrison, there were fewer than two dozen people living there. J'Khasha made his way to the short tower across from the inn, where the Census and Excise Office as well as the Courier Service Office was housed. He tried his best not to dwell on the headsman's block out front, and all the people that must've died on that thing over the years, and went inside the tower.

The first floor of the tower was dedicated to the Census and Excise Office. It was an austere room with no decorations, save for the flag of the Empire on the wall. There was a simple desk and chair in the center, with stacks of papers and ledgers piled on. Behind the desk were a few cabinets lining the wall, some were likely for important documents, while others had rows of post boxes, one of which now belonged to J'Khasha and Gazes. J'Khasha and the others reported here yesterday afternoon, and were greeted by an elderly, white-haired Breton man who began asking the four questions typical of a CE agent, "what's your names, professions, purpose for visiting Skyrim?" and so on. But then, he started asking rather strange questions, like what choice of chores they would do for their fathers, how would they deal with an embarrassing nickname from their cousins, or how they would handle a gang of children trying to steal a sweetroll from them. It was then that the man's son, the **real** agent on duty, escorted him out of the office and told him to go home. The son apologized, and explained that his father **used** to work there until a nervous break-down forced him to retire. Today, the son was sitting at the desk filling out paperwork, while the father was sitting on a bench in the waiting area, scribbling nonsense into a notebook in an official manner, when he noticed J'Khasha. "Hey, you're the one who refused to answer the sweetroll question! Can't let you into Skyrim until you do!"

"Father, for gods' sakes!" The son cried in exasperation. "I told you, if you can't behave yourself, you'll have to stay home!"

The old man harrumphed and returned to his scribbling. J'Khasha chuckled at the exchange as he went upstairs to the Courier Services Office, where he hired a courier to deliver his letter home to Chorrol, and paid the extra fee for express delivery, which would have the courier leave right away by horseback.

Later that evening, after dinner, the four were playing a favorite drinking game of Gazes' and J'Khasha's. Tsaravi spun the empty mead bottle in the center of the table, and it landed on Gazes. "Let's see…" Tsaravi said. "You've been to the top of White-Gold Tower."

Gazes took a swig of his drink. "As part of a guided tour they started offering a couple of years ago, to raise revenue for a renovation. It's a spectacular sight!" Gazes spun the bottle, and it landed on J'Khasha.

"DRINK UP!" Gaius and Tsaravi shouted, and Gazes and J'Khasha did so. J'Khasha was glad Tsaravi was feeling much better than that afternoon. J'Khasha spun the bottle, and it landed on Gaius.

J'Khasha looked Gaius over for a minute, he noticed some scarring on Gaius' forearm. The scars were similar to the Fleshfly bite scars that Reedakus, Gazes' father, had. "You've been to Black Marsh. **Deep** inside Black Marsh."

Gaius took a drink. "With my father. He wanted to study the Hist trees, and see if there was a way to grow them in other parts of Tamriel."

Tsaravi looked at Gaius wide-eyed. "You never told Tsaravi that!"

"Nothing came of it." Gaius said. "The native Argonians have become **very** distrustful of outsiders. Even ones that are trying to help."

Just as Gaius was about to spin the bottle, a woman's voice spoke up. "Excuse us?" The four looked up to see a Dunmer woman and a Nord man had approached their table. "My name is Ineria Dren, this is my Shield-Brother, Farkas. Your drinking game seems interesting, we were wondering if we could join in?" The Dunmer woman had the gray skin and red eyes typical of her race, as well as the stuck up and gloomy expression that seemed to be perpetually etched on their faces. She kept her black hair in an odd style, with the right side of her head kept shaved, while the left was kept short and combed back. Her armor was finely crafted, with a wolf motif to it. Her twin steel longswords were of an even higher quality than J'Khasha had ever seen before. The Nord was a beast of a man, his greasy looking black hair hung to his shoulders, and his face was covered in stubble. He seemed to be perpetually covered in grime, and he had black war paint around his eyes, which gave him a feral appearance. His armor was of a more common design, but seemed of no lower quality than his companion's. The quality of the greatsword strapped across his back matched the Dunmer's own weapons. These were no common adventurers.

J'Khasha was about to say no, when Gazes spoke up. "Of course! This game is **much** more fun the more people there are to play it!" J'Khasha shot Gazes one of his Xivilai frightening glares. He had always had a problem with Dunmer, considering their history of slavery, and the last thing he wanted was to play drinking games with one! J'Khasha could see Tsaravi was uneasy about their new guests as well. Although slavery was abolished in most of Morrowind centuries ago, in some areas the barbaric practice continues even in this day and age. And the threat of abduction by Dunmer slavers remains an all-too-real possibility in Annequina, Pelletine, and Black Marsh. And that name, Dren, J'Khasha couldn't shake the feeling that name was important somehow. There was something else about these two J'Khasha didn't like, his sensitive Khajiit nose picked up the faintest scent of dog or wolf, and for some reason it made the fur on his neck stand up. Gazes began making introductions. "My name is Gazes-At-Stars, but you can call me Gazes. This is my friend, J'Khasha. And these are our clients, Gaius Vesuvio and Tsaravi."

The newcomers grabbed a couple of chairs from a nearby table and sat down. "It's a pleasure to meet you." The Nord, Farkas, said. "So, how do you play this game?"

"Oh, it's simple." Gazes said. "First, you spin the bottle, then you have to guess something about whoever it lands on. If you're right, they take a drink, and give a little explanation about the guess. If you're wrong, **you** take a drink, and no matter the outcome, whoever the bottle lands on gets the next spin. And one more rule, if the bottle lands on your partner, Ineria in your case, you **both** take a drink while the rest of us shouts 'drink up'."

"Seems easy enough." Ineria said as she set her mead down on the table. "Let's play!"

Gaius spun the bottle, and it landed on Farkas. "You've never left Skyrim."

Farkas downed nearly half his bottle in one gulp. "Never needed to. The Companions don't work outside Skyrim."

"The Companions?" Tsaravi asked.

Ineria chuckled. "You **must** be new to Skyrim. We're a group of warriors based in Whiterun, but we operate all over Skyrim for anyone who needs a strong blade."

Farkas spun the bottle, and it landed on Gazes. "Uh… You can breathe underwater."

They all looked at Farkas as though he said, "fire is hot". Gazes took a drink anyway. "Yes, me and **every** Argonian that's **ever** lived, **ever**! New rule, no more **obvious** guesses like that one!"

Ineria laughed heartily. "Ice-brain!"

They continued on for some time, occasionally after a spin, "DRINK UP" would be shouted. Then it was J'Khasha's turn. He was half-way through his third bottle of the night, so it took him a couple of tries to get hold of the real bottle. His spin landed on Ineria, and suddenly, it all clicked together. The odd looks tinged with guilt she'd give to himself, Tsaravi, and Gazes, the name Dren, J'Khasha knew damn well who she was related to. He dramatically pointed a finger at her as he made his guess. "You owned slaves at some point!"

Ineria raised her eyebrows, but still took a drink. "You go right for the hard stuff. Technically, my 'father' owned the slaves, until the Nerevarine killed him and freed the slaves when I was only seven. How did you know?"

"That's not part of the game." J'Khasha said. "But if you must know, you get the **slightest** look of guilt when you look at me, Gazes, and Tsaravi, so I just went with my hunch." He half-lied, not wanting to reveal too much of the history between his family and hers.

"Wait, the Nerevarine?" Gaius said. "When you were **seven**? Then you're over two centuries old!"

"Ah, that's always what a woman loves to hear!" Ineria said as she took hold of the bottle. "To have her life measured in centuries!" She spun the bottle, and it landed on Tsaravi. "Your father would spoil you growing up."

Tsaravi snorted derisively. "Quite the opposite, in fact. Drink." Ineria took a drink as Tsaravi spun the bottle, it landed on J'Khasha. Tsaravi gave J'Khasha a look over, then her ice-blue eyes seemed to once again look into his soul. "You've been to Elsweyr." Tsaravi stated with absolute certainty.

J'Khasha took a drink. "I was chasing down some guy running away from a debt, and he thought to shake me off in the desert."

Just as J'Khasha was about to spin the bottle, Tsaravi continued with a shocked expression. "You almost died of heatstroke, and that night you almost died of hypothermia."

It was J'Khasha's turn to have a shocked expression. "Yes, I **would've** died if Gazes hadn't found me. I've never told anyone about that. How did you know about that?"

Tsaravi seemed suddenly frightened, as though she too was surprised she was right. "Tsaravi doesn't know!"

They continued the game into the night, though their enthusiasm became muted after that exchange. It was after midnight when they decided to retire to their beds. Upstairs, Ineria spoke with J'Khasha. "Where are you four headed?"

"Gazes and I are escorting them to Winterhold." J'Khasha said as he was taking off his boots.

"To the college?" Ineria said. "Farkas and I are returning to Whiterun, that'll take us in the same direction for a while. Would you be willing to travel together until then? It can get quite boring with just Farkas to talk to. He isn't exactly the most stimulating of conversationalists."

"Hey!" Farkas snapped, earning a few shushes from the other guests.

For the life of him, J'Khasha couldn't think of a way to say "no" without potentially angering the fierce looking warrior. "I don't see why not."

Ineria clapped her hands together. "Excellent! We'll leave as soon as you are ready tomorrow morning." She went off to her bed at the other end of the room.

Once Ineria was out of earshot, Gazes popped his head around the divider between his and J'Khasha's beds. "I was unaware we were looking for new travelling companions."

"What was I supposed to do Gazes?" J'Khasha said. "They're taking the same road we are. It shouldn't be too bad, if I've read our new map right, we'll be stuck with them for less than a day before we part ways."

"If you say so." Gazes said with a shrug. "Let's just hope we don't end up waking up in tubs of ice with missing organs."

"Right before bed." J'Khasha said. "Thanks for that!"

5 Rain's Hand 4E 200

The party of six left Helgen after breakfast the next morning. Ineria and Farkas shared their knowledge of adventuring in Skyrim, and news of the recent ban forbidding Khajiit from entering the five major hold capitals of Solitude, Windhelm, Markarth, Riften, and Whiterun.

The four were quite livid, especially J'Khasha and Tsaravi of course. "What?!" J'Khasha exclaimed. "How can someone be forbidden from entering a city based solely on his race?! That's madness!"

"The Jarl of Windhelm." Ineria spat, revealing her own distaste, which slightly elevated J'Khasha's opinion of her. "Ulfric Stormcloak, he's been causing a **lot** of trouble lately over the Talos ban. In an attempt to appease him, High King Torygg enacted the Khajiit Ban, and it worked, for now at least, but Ulfric is still grumbling."

Gazes shook his head. "That's going to complicate things. We won't be able to sell off the spoils of our delving, but if J'Khasha can't enter the cities, then I won't either. I won't let my friend languish out in the cold alone."

J'Khasha smiled, he was touched by the loyalty of his friend. Ineria spoke up. "There is a silver lining, the ban only applies to **major** hold capitals, not minor capitals and small towns. Also, but this is a rarity mind you, Jarls have the right to award special dispensation allowing Khajiit they deem worthy entry into their cities. If you make a name for yourselves as you plan to, I've no doubt you'll receive summons to see Jarls for just such a privilege in no time."

They continued down the road, when J'Khasha noticed a mountain in the distance which seemed deformed somehow. Upon closer examination, he could see the deformity was from a huge stone structure built into the mountain. J'Khasha, Gazes, Tsaravi, and Gaius ran to the edge of the cliff to get a better look at the massive construct. It had four large, triangular stone arches that led to a large entryway that seemed to be carved from the rock, rather than built into it. "What in Oblivion is that?" J'Khasha asked.

Ineria and Farkas walked up beside the group. "That is Bleak Falls Barrow" Ineria said. "It's an ancient Nordic crypt that dates back to before the First Era."

"They built **that** just to bury some guy?" J'Khasha said. "I've seen smaller **cities**!"

Gazes put a hand on J'Khasha's shoulder. "Told you Skyrim had opportunities for us!" J'Khasha was too shocked to sigh wearily for once.

At a bend in the road, the party came to an arrangement of three stone pillars. "The Guardian Stones." Ineria answered preemptively. "Three of the thirteen standing stones that dot Skyrim's landscape. Each one is marked with a constellation from the Firmament."

Tsaravi walked up to one of the stones. "The Mage. This is Tsaravi's birth sign." She placed a hand on the pillar, and immediately, the star pattern carved into the surface lit up, and a column of light shot up into the sky from the tip. Tsaravi seemed to glow for an instant before fading back to normal.

"The Stones confer blessings to travelers." Ineria explained. "Regardless of birth sign."

J'Khasha went up to Tsaravi. "Tsaravi, are you all right?"

Tsaravi looked at her hand and let out a small laugh. "Yes! Tsaravi can't explain it, but somehow, this one has an even greater understanding of magic!" She looked up to J'Khasha with a huge grin. "You must try this! It feels fantastic!"

J'Khasha looked at the stones, his sign, the Tower, wasn't there, but its Guardian, the Thief, was. He placed his hand on the stone, and it reacted the same as the Mage stone had for Tsaravi. Instantaneously, an "awareness" of all things stealth rippled through him. Concepts and techniques he had often struggled with suddenly became clear, as though he had known them all along. "Bright Moons!" Was all he could manage to say, eliciting a knowing chuckle from Tsaravi.

Gaius touched the Mage stone, while Gazes chose Warrior to J'Khasha's surprise. Gazes apparently noticed his friend's confusion. "I need more help with my sword skills than my magic." He said with a shrug.

They continued down the road, which followed alongside a raging river that would calm considerably as they moved down it. By midday, they reached a small hamlet Ineria called Riverwood. Deciding they needed a quick rest and meal, the party went to the village's only tavern, the Sleeping Giant Inn. The tavern was much like the Helgen Homestead, except it didn't have a second floor, and instead of a fireplace, it had a large stone fire pit in the middle of the tavern. It was run by a married couple, who seemed to spend as much time arguing with each other as they did serving their patrons, a middle-aged Breton woman named Delphine, the innkeeper, and a Nord man named Orgnar, the cook. The couple reminded J'Khasha of his aunt and uncle, and how they ran the Oak and Crosier, often getting into shouting matches even in front of the customers.

During lunch, J'Khasha struck up a conversation with Tsaravi. "So, Mage is your birth sign? That means your birthday is this month."

"Yes." Tsaravi said. "On the fifteenth, Tsaravi is turning eighteen. You?"

"Twentieth of Frostfall." J'Khasha said. "I'll be fifteen. Since we probably won't see you then, happy birthday!" He lifted his mug of ale.

Tsaravi lifted hers in return, and clanked his. "Thank you! But don't be so certain about not seeing us again. The College is certain to send us out on field assignments, and you two have done such a fantastic job, we'd like to hire you again when they do!"

J'Khasha's heart nearly leapt out of his chest, and he couldn't help but grin at the prospect of spending more time with her. "I'd **absolutely** love that!" He suddenly thought he was coming on too strong, and tried to downplay his enthusiasm. "Er, **we'd** absolutely love that! Gazes! And me! Both of us really! Oh, gods!"

Tsaravi giggled at the display. "Excellent! This one and Gaius look forward to seeing you again."

After lunch, the party continued onward. An hour's walk later, they could see a palace built atop a hill in the distance. "Dragon's Reach." Ineria said. "The Jarl's palace, and the city below it is Whiterun."

Farkas pointed to the city. "See that building with the orange roof? That's Jorvaskr, the mead hall of the Companions, where we live."

Another hour later, they were at a four-way crossroad. A signpost said the west road led to Whiterun, while the east across the bridge led to Winterhold. "This is where we part ways." Ineria said. "Perhaps we'll see each other again. Safe journey, and if you take that road, be careful. Bandits often stake out Valtheim Towers, you'll know it when you see it."

The four followed the road east for another hour, when they stumbled upon another Standing Stone. Gaius and Tsaravi wanted to study it for a while, so J'Khasha and Gazes went to set up camp across the road from the stone. Once camp was set, Gazes went off to get firewood, and left J'Khasha to watch over the site. J'Khasha took this opportunity to write another entry in his journal while there was daylight left. Just as he finished writing about travelling with Ineria and Farkas, Tsaravi came to camp and sat next to J'Khasha. "Done already?" J'Khasha asked. "Where's Gaius?"

"Still studying the Stone," Tsaravi said. "he wanted to get some rubbings before coming back." She took out her journal and opened it at about the midpoint, revealing a rather detailed and high quality drawing of the Stone. "It's the Ritual Stone, Tsaravi was afraid to find out what power it bestows, Gaius suspects it has something to do with Necromancy."

J'Khasha was amazed at the drawing she had made. "That's very nice, I almost expect I can just reach in and touch it."

Tsaravi smiled. "Thank you! It's a little hobby of Tsaravi's." She began flipping back through some of the pages. In between entries, were lovely drawings of various moments from their journey, there was Helgen, the massive spider from Gossamer Weaver's Cave with shadowy figures showing just how massive it was, the statue of the Champion of Cyrodiil in Bruma, the Oak and Crosier, and busts of J'Khasha and Gazes. J'Khasha couldn't help but notice that his was a little more detailed than Gazes'. "Gazes went off to gather firewood, this one assumes?"

J'Khasha put his journal away. "Yes, once he gets the fire going, I can start dinner. I've still got some of that venison left, and I bought some fresh vegetables from that trader in Riverwood, I was thinking stew."

"Tsaravi loves your stews!" She said. "Of course, Tsaravi has loved everything you've cooked!"

J'Khasha smiled at the compliment. "Thank you! It's always nice to be appreciated for my talents other than my blade and bow work."

The sky began to turn orange, and the first few stars appeared, with the crescent moon Jone creeping up past the mountains to the east, Jode was new and wouldn't be making an appearance that evening. J'Khasha knew that with the current phase of the moons, any Khajiit born in the next few days would be Suthay-Raht like him and Tsaravi. Tsaravi sighed contentedly. "Such lovely sunsets in Skyrim!"

"Yes, there are!" J'Khasha said. "Didn't really notice in Helgen, with all the mountains in the way."

They sat together in silence, enjoying the view, when Tsaravi suddenly asked: "How's your arm? It's been a few weeks since the bear."

J'Khasha made a show of rotating his arm. "It's doing great! Gets a little sore in the cold, but you did a wonderful job healing it." He lifted his Timber Wolf fur cape off his shoulder. "And look, the fur is almost completely grown back in!"

Tsaravi ran her fingers over J'Khasha's shoulder, sending a shiver through him and giving him a slight erection, which he promptly tried to hide. Tsaravi nodded her approval, seeming not to notice J'Khasha's arousal. "Very good, it's coming in nice and thick." She suddenly started giggling.

J'Khasha's ears drooped to the side in embarrassment. _'Oh, shit! She noticed!'_ He thought. "What's so funny?" He said aloud.

Tsaravi stopped giggling and smiled. "It's nothing. It's just that… Your fur is softer than Tsaravi's!" She started laughing, and J'Khasha joined in.

"Well, I like your fur as well." J'Khasha said after a moment of shared laughter. "It's such a lovely golden color, and so shiny. Very impressive for someone who spent the last two years living in an Ayleid ruin." He then added shyly. "You're quite beautiful, actually."

She smiled warmly. "Thank you! Tsaravi thinks you're quite handsome." They locked eyes, Tsaravi's ice blue orbs seemed to glow in the light of the sunset. She placed her hand on his, J'Khasha's heart and breathing quickened at her touch. She began to slowly move her head closer to his.

J'Khasha became both excited and terrified all at once. _'Oh, Mother Cat Mara, is this_ _ **really**_ _happening?'_ He thought. _'Holy shit! I think it is!'_ He began moving his head closer as well, they both closed their eyes, just as J'Khasha was getting his tongue ready to deliver a Khajiit style kiss, they were both startled by the loud CLUNK of a pile of sticks being dropped to the ground!

J'Khasha's eyes popped open, and he saw Gazes standing over the pile of sticks, completely oblivious to the tender moment he had just disrupted. "You would not believe what I went through to get these!" Gazes said as he knelt down to build the fire. "First, as you can see, there are hardly **any** trees around here. Then, after walking over a mile gathering what twigs and sticks I could find, I come across this old tower at the side of the road." He then pointed to the towers down the road in the distance. "Those right there. Then this Orc bitch comes up to me and tries to rob me! Gave me some line about a toll road! So, I threw the bundle of sticks in her face, and ran her through while she was stunned." He started dramatically reenacting the battle as he went along. "Then her pals in the tower start shooting at me! Once I dealt with them, their boss comes after me, this huge brute of a Nord with a battle axe who just refused to die! I finally just knocked him off the bridge connecting the two towers. They won't be bothering us tomorrow, and I found a chest in there with loads of great loot, which should fetch us a good deal of Septims!"

Once Gazes had the fire going, J'Khasha got dinner started. He was upset at the interruption, and tried to hide it. He looked over to Tsaravi and could tell she was troubled as well. J'Khasha hoped he didn't blow his chance with her. Just as dinner was ready an hour later, Gaius returned from the Ritual Stone. Night fell while they were still enjoying their stew, when J'Khasha saw something he had never seen before, brilliant ribbons of green light dancing across the night sky. It was the most beautiful sight he had ever witnessed in his entire life, and it brought a tear to his eye. "What is this?" He quietly asked no one in particular.

The others were just as touched as J'Khasha by the display. "By the Eight!" Gaius exclaimed. "It's the Aurora! I've read about this!"

"Alkosh! It's beautiful!" Tsaravi said quietly. J'Khasha could feel her tail gently moving up and down his own, sending a tingle up his spine. Perhaps he hadn't blown his chance after all!

The four watched the dazzling sight well into the night. Even after settling into his bedroll, J'Khasha couldn't help but watch the light dancing in the sky. He was tempted to forgo sleep, but the hypnotic scene caused him to drift off regardless, and he dreamed of dancing among the lights with Tsaravi, who was wearing a gown of pure starlight. Just as they were moving in for a kiss, a splash of cold water brought J'Khasha crashing back to consciousness, coughing and sputtering. "WHAT THE FUCK?!" He choked out.

"See?" J'Khasha heard Gazes say. "You just need to know how to wake him when he gets like that."

J'Khasha wiped the water from his eyes, and saw that it was nearly mid-morning. "Gods damn it Gazes-At-Stars!" He said, using Gazes' full name to make known his displeasure. "I told you to stop waking me that way! And why didn't you wake me sooner?"

"We tried." Tsaravi said. "But you were pretty out of it, so we let you rest while we handled breakfast."

J'Khasha sniffed the air, and caught the unmistakable odor of burnt sausage and bread. "That's definitely Gazes' culinary skills at work."

Tsaravi chuckled. "This one didn't say we handled it **well**."

Gazes tossed J'Khasha an apple. "Eat up. We're moving on as soon as you're ready."

6 Rain's Hand 4E 200

After packing up camp, they continued down the road, following the same river they had been following since before Riverwood. They ran into few problems, the occasional wolf and a saber cat. Late afternoon, at the crossroad across the river from Windhelm, they encountered one of the Khajiit merchant caravans that crisscrossed Skyrim. The head of the caravan, Ma'Dran, offered to take them in for the night at his stop at Windhelm. The four agreed, even though it meant going the wrong way for a short while, it wasn't that far. While amongst the caravan, J'Khasha and Tsaravi were able to get more Moon Sugar, and Gazes was able to sell off some of the loot he acquired from Valtheim Towers for a tidy sum.

Over a dinner prepared by J'Khasha, Ma'Dran explained his was the first of hopefully several such caravans being organized by his leader, Ri'Saad. "The old man has this crazy, but also brilliant plan." Ma'Dran explained as J'Khasha dished him a venison chop with Elsweyr Fondue. "He wants at least four caravans in Skyrim within a year. Each one travelling between a pair of cities, and all four coming together once a year at one of the major hold capitals." Ma'Dran took a bite of his meal and moaned in pleasure. "Better than home! Anyways, as the first to sign up, I was given the second most lucrative route, between Solitude and Windhelm, the first being reserved for Ri'Saad himself."

"You seem awfully young to be a caravan leader." Gaius said. "How did that happen?"

Ma'Dran stared wistfully into the fire. "I was an orphan, living on the streets of Corinthe after the Thalmor murdered my family. When I was seventeen, I stowed away aboard a trade ship and found myself in Skyrim. Ri'Saad found me not long after. He provided the funds to start this caravan, and put me in charge of it." He then put his arm around the Ohmes-Raht Khajiit woman next to him. "If not for that chance encounter, I would never have met my lovely Rhazhi. I owe Ri'Saad more than I can **ever** repay." He finished with a Khajiit kiss to Rhazhi's cheek, causing her to giggle and purr softly.

"What about that foolish Khajiit ban?" Gaius asked. "Has that caused any problems?"

Ma'Dran took a sip of Spiced Wine before answering. "Not as many as we thought it would actually. The ban only keeps us from **entering** the cities, it says nothing about being **next** to them. Ri'Saad's wife is convinced if we show the Nords we are trustworthy, they'll eventually let us in. I don't see it happening as long as that maniac over there keeps bellyaching about 'sons of Skyrim', and other such nonsense."

J'Khasha sat down with his own plate after dishing everyone up. "Who? That Jarl Oldprick or whatever guy?"

Rhazhi laughed heartily. "Jarl **Ulfric** , although 'Oldprick' certainly suits him better! I like you cub, hold on to that sense of humor, it'll help you here. So, we've told you why we're in Skyrim, what about you?"

"J'Khasha and I are escorting Tsaravi and Gaius to the College of Winterhold." Gazes answered. "After that, we hope to make our fortune here."

Ma'Dran grinned. "You've certainly come to the right place. Skyrim is a land ripe with opportunity, as I have learned first-hand."

"Ma'Dran," Tsaravi said. "how long have you been in Skyrim?"

"Just over six months." Ma'Dran said. "I've been working for Ri'Saad for about four months."

Tsaravi took a deep breath. "Before you left Elsweyr, did you happen to hear any news or even rumors about the Red Claw Tribe?"

The four Khajiit of the caravan widened their eyes in surprise. "So," Rhazhi said, crossing her arms. "you're **that** Tsaravi!"

Tsaravi became visibly frightened with that statement, causing J'Khasha to place a hand on one of his daggers, ready to strike in defense of Tsaravi. "Yo-you've heard of this one?" Tsaravi stammered.

Rhazhi stood up, revealing the jeweled hilt of a finely crafted longsword under her cloak. "When the chieftain of the largest tribe in Elsweyr banishes his own **daughter** from that tribe for speaking out against the Thalmor and the Dominion, news travels far and fast." She walked around the fire towards Tsaravi. "Of course, I suspected who you were when you introduced yourselves, Tsaravi is a rather uncommon name, did you think we wouldn't recognize it?" She stood menacingly over the still sitting Tsaravi. "You are the daughter of chieftain Do'Diraaj, granddaughter of Dune's previous Clanmother, and an outspoken critic of the Thalmor. I have one thing to say to someone like you." J'Khasha tightly gripped his dagger's hilt, and quickly planned what he would do. First, he would strike Rhazhi behind the knees, severing the tendons in her legs, incapacitating her. As he did that, he would throw his plate into Ma'Dran's face, hopefully taking him out of the fight. He would then rush the unarmored, but still formidable Cathay-Raht, Ma'Jhad, ideally before he drew that massive greatsword. That would leave the caravan's real muscle Ra'Zhinda, fortunately J'Khasha wouldn't be alone against her, as both Gazes and Gaius seemed ready to spring into action as well. Just as J'Khasha was about to make his move, Rhazhi knelt to Tsaravi's level and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Good for you Clan-Mate!"

"W-what?" Tsaravi muttered, still apprehensive.

Ma'Jhad smiled. "Did you honestly believe you were the only Khajiit to doubt the Thalmor's lies?"

Tsaravi visibly calmed down somewhat, but still seemed suspicious. "Well, yes. You don't like the Thalmor either?"

A mixture of anger and sadness briefly crossed Rhazhi's face as she stood up. "I think you'll find a similar sentiment amongst most of the caravans working for Ri'Saad. You know of Ma'Dran's loss at the hands of the Thalmor, Ra'Zhinda's tribe was wiped out in one of those purges that 'never happen', Ma'Jhad's wife wrote for a newspaper in Arenthia, until she disappeared without a trace after writing an unflattering story about the Thalmor and their activities in Reaper's March." She closed her eyes, and her face took a pained expression. "As for myself…" Tears welled in her eyes, and she hugged her arms as though she was suddenly ashamed of her own body. "Let's just say that you're not the only one whose father chose the Thalmor over his own daughter, and ignored their crimes against his own kin." Ma'Dran walked up to his love and hugged her around the waist, calming her considerably. "The last news I heard of your tribe you may find bittersweet, your father died last year; your sister is now chieftain of the Red Claw Tribe."

Tsaravi let out a pained gasp that broke J'Khasha's heart. "Tsaravi's father is dead? How?"

Ma'Jhad spoke up. "No one knows for certain. This one's wife told Ma'Jhad that she heard a rumor of Do'Diraaj falling ill not long after banishing you, and that he steadily declined until his death."

Tsaravi set her plate down, and ran off in tears. J'Khasha followed her, and found her standing at the riverbank across from the Windhelm docks, crying into her hands. J'Khasha wanted nothing more than to hold her, and try to make her feel better, but he was afraid that would somehow make her feel worse, so he simply said: "I'm sorry about your father." Tsaravi turned to face him, then a moment later tightly hugged him and continued crying into his chest while coiling her tail around his leg. J'Khasha hugged her back, and the two stood there in each other's embrace for several minutes while Tsaravi cried herself out. When she seemed to calm down, J'Khasha spoke up. "Please don't take this the wrong way, but how can you be so upset for the man who banished you?"

Tsaravi lifted her head from J'Khasha's chest, her eyes still wet with tears. "He was still Tsaravi's Daddy, and he loved her once, **nothing** can change that."

"I understand." J'Khasha said. "I'm sorry."

Tsaravi smiled. "It's okay. Thank you for comforting this one, you're a very good friend, Tsaravi is lucky to have you."

As they headed back to camp, J'Khasha felt the need to ask: "Now that your sister is in charge, do you think you'll be able to return to your tribe?"

"No!" Tsaravi said without hesitation. "Even if Tsarina wasn't as fanatically loyal to the Dominion as Daddy, Tsaravi could never forgive the tribe for turning against this one." When they returned to camp, everyone expressed their condolences, to which Tsaravi thanked them. They finished their dinner, then turned in for the night.

7 Rain's Hand 4E 200

They awoke to a rather heavy snowstorm the next morning. After saying their goodbyes to the caravan, the four continued on the last leg of their journey on the road to Winterhold. At mid-morning, they came across a ruined fort built at the side of the road. J'Khasha stopped the group after spotting a robed figure and what looked to be a skeleton walking along the parapet. "Necromancers! I think we can use the storm as cover to sneak past them, and avoid a potentially lethal conflict." The others agreed with J'Khasha, then crouched low and moved slowly along the road, tightly hugging the cliffside as they did so. They were nearly past the ruin, when a skeleton on a wooden watchtower seemed to spot them. The four remained frozen in place as the reanimated collection of bones stared in their general direction. When the skeleton carried on its patrol, the four quietly breathed a sigh of relief and moved on. Once clear of the ruin, they stood up and walked normally.

Through the storm, they caught a glimpse of their destination. Standing atop a stone pillar in the sea was a large stone structure, the College of Winterhold, they were almost there! They quickened their pace, driven by the sight before them. It was noon when they arrived in the "town" of Winterhold, though calling it a town was rather generous as there were only two or three buildings left standing, everything else was in ruins. They made their way to a large stone bridge which led to the College.

Gaius and Tsaravi turned to face their escorts. "We finally made it!" Gaius said with a huge smile. "Thank you so much for such a job well done!" He pulled out a large pouch from his pack and handed it to Gazes. "Your payment, as agreed. You've more than earned it!"

Gazes put the pouch in his own pack. "Of course! And if you ever need escorts again, don't hesitate to seek us out!"

Tsaravi pulled out a pouch of her own. "And here's a bonus for the excellent job! Tsaravi believes you should get a good two thousand Septims for it, easy!"

J'Khasha opened the pouch, and found it was filled with gems of every color imaginable! "Bright Moons!" J'Khasha held it out for Tsaravi to take back. "This is **way** too valuable for you to part with! We can't keep this!"

But Tsaravi pushed it back with a smile. "Keep it! This one insists! You deserve it!"

"Thank you!" J'Khasha said as he put the pouch in his pack. He then ripped a page out of his journal and began writing on it. "This is the address to my post box in Helgen, I plan to check it once a week." He handed the paper to Tsaravi. "If you need us, just send a letter, we'll come as quick as we can."

Tsaravi smiled. "We'll do just that! And don't be afraid to write to Tsaravi, even just to say 'hi'!"

J'Khasha's heart quickened at the offer. "I'll do just that!" He reciprocated.

"Well," Gaius said. "since this isn't good-bye, I'll say until next time." He turned and walked up the stone ramp.

"Good luck!" Tsaravi said. "May the two moons light your path!" She then followed her friend up the ramp.

J'Khasha and Gazes headed back into "town". Gazes slapped J'Khasha on the back. "So, here we are in Skyrim! We've already got two repeat customers, and an entire province to explore! What do you want to do first?"

J'Khasha grinned at his lifelong pal. "The same thing we do after every big job, eat and drink till we pass out with smiles on our faces! That tavern we passed should do nicely!"

EPILOGUE

That evening, while on his third mead, J'Khasha was checking out his share of the gems, a sapphire, emerald and ruby, when Gazes slammed a piece of paper on the table. "What's this?" J'Khasha asked.

Gazes sat next to J'Khasha with a tray of sweetrolls and his own mead. "Our first opportunity!"

J'Khasha looked at the paper.

 _Bounty_

 _By order of Korir:_

 _To all able-bodied men and women of Winterhold._

 _The bandits located in Snowpoint Beacon have been harassing, robbing, and attacking citizens and visitors._

 _A reward will be offered to anyone who kills their leader._

 _-Malur Seloth_

"What do you think?" Gazes said. "Seems perfect for a spellsword and an assassin to get their start in a new land."

"Bounties don't normally pay well." J'Khasha said.

"True," Gazes said. "but think of the loot these bandits must have stored away. And we do a few of these quick and easy jobs early on, we'll get a good reputation, word will spread of our skill, and before you know it, we'll be working for Jarls and nobles directly!"

J'Khasha looked at the note once again, then grinned mischievously. "We've got to start somewhere!"

That's the spirit!" Gazes said as he held up his tankard. "For adventure!"

J'Khasha held up his tankard. "For Drakes!"

They clanked their tankards together and shouted in unison: "FOR HIRE!"


	7. Skyrim's Opportunities Chapter 1

Adventurers for Hire:

Skyrim's Opportunities Chapter 1

10 Second Seed 4E 200

In the month since they arrived in Skyrim, J'Khasha and Gazes-At-Stars have developed quite a reputation. Although working around Winterhold proved to be a bust, once they began working in the southern Holds things picked up quick. They had done at least one job in each Hold so far, and they had learned which Holds were the best and worst to work in. Falkreath, the Pale, and Hjaalmarch were the easiest as the Khajiit ban didn't apply to their capitals, allowing J'Khasha to enter and conduct his business. The Rift was the most lucrative, Riften had the most merchants of any city, willing to buy all the treasure they could carry, there was always someone who needed a couple of mercenaries to do their dirty work, and the ban on Khajiit wasn't seriously enforced there. They only did one bounty job in Eastmarch, and it was the last job they'd do there, the Khajiit ban was fully enforced in Windhelm, they wouldn't allow J'Khasha in, even just to claim the bounty, so he had wait outside while Gazes went in. When he came back, Gazes was furious, apparently some locals had accosted him on the way to the castle, the steward had been rude to him, and to top it all off, they paid less than **half** of what was owed, and threatened to clap Gazes in irons when he protested. Haafingar, the Reach, and Whiterun Holds tended to be more middle of the road, the ban was enforced, but not strictly, J'Khasha was often allowed to enter to hand in bounties, and even stay for a day or so. Plus, the jobs from private citizens tended to be less morally dubious than in Riften, which they preferred, although the ban meant they had to meet their clients in one of the smaller towns like Rorikstead.

It was at Rorikstead that they were meeting their newest client, or clients as it turned out. For the last couple of weeks, several children had been abducted from Whiterun Hold along the border of the Reach, and naturally their parents wanted them back. The parents, mostly farmers, had summoned the Adventurers for Hire to the Frostfruit Inn so their spokesman Ri'Saad, leader of the Khajiit caravans whose daughter had also been taken, could fill them in on the details. "Thank you for coming so quickly." Ri'Saad said. "These children have been missing for quite some time, so time is of the essence."

J'Khasha skipped the usual pleasantries when meeting a new client, and went straight to business. "Your message seemed pretty urgent, so we came straight here. But I must ask, why come to us and not the guards or Companions?"

Ri'Saad hissed derisively. "The Whiterun 'guards' won't help because the children were taken by the Forsworn, a problem for the Reach, and the Reach 'guards' won't help because all but one of the children were abducted from Whiterun Hold!" Tears started to well in his eyes. "And even though my sweet little kitten was taken in their Hold, they refused to risk their lives for one 'cat'!" He spat the last word, then composed himself. "As for the Companions, this situation requires subtlety and discretion, something the 'death or glory' Companions aren't known for, but you two are."

"Who are the Forsworn?" Gazes asked.

"Savage barbarians." Ri'Saad said. "They've been plaguing the Reach for years, if you've travelled through there you've likely encountered them, scantily clad, armed with primitive weapons, and always shouting how the Reach belongs to them."

"Oh, **them**." J'Khasha said. "Yeah, we've run into them." J'Khasha remembered well when he and Gazes first entered the Reach, and were immediately set upon by five Bretons who attacked without provocation, and fought to the last man. "We've only heard them called the Madmen of the Reach. We'll take the job, if you have any idea where the children were taken, it would really help."

Ri'Saad smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you! Come, I'll introduce you to Khayla, our caravan's guard, she'll take you to where we were attacked, and assist you in recovering the children." He led them through the tap room, past the parents of other children abducted by the Forsworn, all in various states of grief, to the tavern's large room, inside of which J'Khasha could see two Khajiit women sitting on one of the beds, one was sobbing uncontrollably while the other comforted her. Ri'Saad knocked on the door frame. "Khayla, shai." He said in Ta'Agra, the native language of Elsweyr, which J'Khasha barely understood.

The comforting Khajiit, a Cathay-Raht in steel armor, whispered to the other in Ta'Agra. "Dyhsa sut vahl, Atahbah. Nehvu ki varr?"

The crying one nodded and whispered back. "Keel ha, Khayla. Jrij Atahbah'ai ja'khajiit weyr!"

Khayla then exited the room to stand by Ri'Saad. "Khayla," Ri'Saad said. "this is J'Khasha and Gazes-At-Stars, they've agreed to find the children. You'll accompany them to where we were attacked, and help them any way you can."

Khayla bowed her head to her leader. "Of course, Ri'Saad." She then turned to J'Khasha and Gazes. "It is a pleasure to meet you. This one is grateful for your help. Now quickly, follow Khayla!" They left the inn, then went west up the hill at a quick jog. "We'll have to go cross-country for a bit, but we'll soon reach a trail that'll take us straight to the attack sight!" After half an hour's hike they found the trail, which took them through the rocky crags to a small mine where the trail turned south eventually taking them past what looked like a small tavern nestled in the rocks. "This is Old Hroldan Inn. We were going to stop here for the night when the Forsworn attacked, and took little Ma'Isha." They continued down the trail until it joined a road, where they were greeted by the site of the attack. A carriage lay wrecked and smoldering, the corpse of a Senche-Tiger still harnessed to it. There were many Forsworn corpses strewn about the area, most had cuts and stab wounds, but a few had burns as well. "This one and Ma'Randru-Jo were able to take out a few, but not before they managed to snatch Ma'Isha. To Khajiit's shame, this one could not pursue, Atahbah was hurt and needed Ma'Randru-Jo to heal her, and there were still Forsworn attacking." Her ears folded forward, and tears welled in her eyes.

J'Khasha put his hand on her shoulder. "It's all right. We're going to find her, and those other kids. We should search the area, try to find some clue as to where they went."

Khayla took a deep breath and nodded. "Your right, walker. Forgive this one, it's been a trying few days."

They searched the site, after a few minutes Gazes called out. "Hey, I think I found something!"

J'Khasha and Khayla went over to Gazes to see him holding a small, pink, marble sized ball between his thumb and forefinger. J'Khasha took the ball and sniffed at it. The heavy, sweet aroma brought a familiar tingle to his nose and sinuses. "This is Moon Sugar candy. I haven't had this in years."

Khayla gasped. "Ma'Isha had a bag of Moon Sugar candy with her all the time! This must be hers!"

Gazes pointed east. "There's a trail of them going down the road." J'Khasha looked to where Gazes was pointing, and sure enough there were more of the multi-colored confections on the ground. "I think she left them for us to find!" Gazes said as he started following the candies at a quick pace.

J'Khasha and Khayla followed him. "Such a sleek girl!" Khayla said. "She is definitely Ri'Saad and Atahbah's daughter!"

They continued following the trail for some time, until it veered off the road onto a small path that led to a shallow part of the Karth River. Across the river was a large Nordic ruin built into the mountainside. "I'd say it's a pretty safe bet they brought her here." Gazes said.

"Ma'Isha!" Khayla said as she started to run toward the ruin. J'Khasha grabbed her arm to stop her. She turned around and hissed at him. "What are you doing? We have to save her and those children!"

She tried to pull away, but J'Khasha held firm. "Exactly. If we go charging in there we'll get ourselves and probably those kids killed. Your leader said it himself, we need subtlety and discretion, going in slow and steady is our best option until we know the whole situation."

She seemed ready to struggle some more, but sighed and visibly calmed down. "You're right, walker. Khayla should know better, she trains people in the art of sneaking after all. This one is sorry for hissing at you."

They crossed the river, then crouched low and stuck close to the rock wall on the other side. They followed the path, past a small stream fed by a waterfall from an overhanging aqueduct, went up a couple flights of stone stairs until they reached a stone arch. J'Khasha looked up and could see a sentry keeping watch from a stone overlook above. "Stop, stop!" He whispered. "Stick to the shadows! Before he spots us!" The others obliged and waited, keeping their hands on their swords. After what felt like an eternity, the sentry turned and walked away. Wasting no time, J'Khasha quickly moved out of the shadows with the others close behind, and led them through an arch beneath an aqueduct.

Further up the path, they saw a Forsworn sitting at a grindstone with his back to them. "How do you want to handle this Khash?" Gazes whispered.

J'Khasha thought for a moment, then grinned when a sinister thought entered his head. "Remember how we dealt with those Commona Tong outside Cheydinhal?"

Gazes chuckled. "You're developing quite the cruel streak!"

J'Khasha pulled a bottle containing a thick brown liquid out of his pack, and started coating his dagger with it. "Only for guys like these."

"What happened in Cheydinhal?" Khayla asked uneasily.

J'Khasha finished coating his dagger. "You're about to see!" J'Khasha then crept closer to the Forsworn.

As he got closer, J'Khasha could see the Forsworn was using the grindstone on a dead Nord's face. "Heh, a Nord skull makes the best axe blade." He muttered. "'bout all they're good for."

The Forsworn was so focused on his grisly task that J'Khasha was able to sneak right up next to him. "Hi there!" J'Khasha said with a mischievous grin, just as he grabbed the Forsworn's wrist and slit it with the poisoned dagger.

The Forsworn yelled in pain and surprise. "What're you-?!" He stopped his sentence short as he suddenly went limp and slid off the the grindstone and onto the ground. "What's happening to me?" He slurred out, fully affected by the poison's first effect.

J'Khasha stood up and rolled the Forsworn onto his back with his foot. "A little concoction I cooked up of canis root, imp stool, and mara tapinela. I call it 'J'Khasha's Special', oh, I'm J'Khasha by the way. You've obviously noticed the first effect, paralysis. By now you'll have noticed a fierce pain spreading up your arm and out to the rest of your body." Gazes and Khayla now stood next to J'Khasha. "Hey Gazes, how did that Gray-Skin describe it?"

"I believe 'burning cold' were his exact words." Gazes said. "It was hard to tell through all the whimpering."

J'Khasha chuckled. "Ah yes, now I remember. That's the sensation of your blood vessels hemorrhaging as the poison moves through your system. I'd say you have five agonizing minutes before it's fatal." J'Khasha pulled out a vial of red liquid. "I could end your suffering. All you have to do is tell me where are the children, and how well are they guarded." J'Khasha then began to playfully twirl the vial in his hand.

The Forsworn grunted in pain, but otherwise remained silent. J'Khasha knew he would probably wait until the last possible moment before talking, and if he didn't, there were still plenty of Forsworn and poison left, he could just try again. Finally, the Forsworn cried out in pain and began speaking rapidly. "They're in a cage by the reservoir up on the rise! The hags wanted them for some ritual! Two Reachmen guard them! There are six others further in the ruin! And the two hags! Now hurry! GIVE ME THE ANTIDOTE!"

J'Khasha tilted his head to the side. "Antidote? Who said anything about an antidote? My exact words were that I'd end your suffering." J'Khasha stabbed the Forsworn in the throat, and twisted his dagger as he pulled it out. "That's better than a child thief deserves!" He snarled before spitting in the dying Breton's face. J'Khasha started wiping off his dagger. "We better hurry. No telling what they have planned for those kids, but it's certainly nothing good." They quickly but quietly followed the path, staying low as they climbed up the hill, avoiding a tripwire, then climbed a flight of stairs to find a Forsworn sitting on a log by a fire with her back to them. To the right was a reservoir fed by a waterfall further up the mountain. At the far end by some tents was the cage that held the kids, near the cage was a footbridge to the tower where the sentry was keeping watch over the approach. "Khayla," J'Khasha whispered. "you take out the one by the fire. Gazes, you handle the sentry, I'll get those kids out of the cage."

Khayla nodded. "She won't see Khajiit coming!" She crept off to the Forsworn on the log, J'Khasha was amazed at how silent she was in heavy armor.

Gazes drew his sword. "I'll handle him, quick and quiet."

The three made their way to their objectives. J'Khasha saw Khayla put her hand over her Forsworn's mouth, eliciting a muffled shocked cry that was cut short when she drove her sword through the savage's back. Gazes veered off to cross the footbridge and get to the sentry. Just as Khayla rejoined J'Khasha, Gazes took off the sentry's head with one swift stroke. J'Khasha made it to the cage, it was a primitive but sturdy wood cage, but the lock was a more advanced metal affair, likely stolen. The children began begging for release. "Don't worry kids." J'Khasha said in the most reassuring voice he could muster. "We're here to get you home." He stuck his pick into the lock to feel how many tumblers he was dealing with. Four, not ideal, but not beyond his skill. It took a couple of tries and broken picks, but he was able to unlock the cage in short order. J'Khasha was astonished to find such a high-quality lock in use by these savages.

The children were quite relieved to be out of the cage, but one child, a Khajiit girl that was obviously Ri'Saad and Atahbah's daughter, was in a panic. "Thirr dun Lucia!" She shouted in Ta'Agra. "Siid siirr ni flahz Lucia!"

J'Khasha only understood two or three words of what she was saying. "Whoa! Slow down kid, I only know two languages, Tamrielic and bad Tamrielic!"

Khayla knelt to the crying cub. "Sti varr ja'khajiit, sehd flahz ha." She then looked to J'Khasha. "She said someone named Lucia was taken."

Ma'Isha nodded. "Yes, yes!" She said in Tamrielic. "The bad men took Lucia!" She then pointed to the broken steps by the reservoir. "That way, just now! Help her, please! She's Ma'Isha's friend!"

"Okay, stay here, all of you." J'Khasha said, he then instructed the children on what to do if they didn't return by sunset, and gave them directions to Rorikstead. The three continued up the path, avoiding numerous traps, including one that would've brought a mammoth skull down on them under another aqueduct.

They found themselves at the main Forsworn encampment, where several of the savages were congregating. J'Khasha could just overhear part of a conversation between two of them. "…hear he's decided to let the Hags turn him into a Briarheart." Said one.

"That's a true Reachman." Said the other. "Hope he heads to Markarth to take out some of those Nords!" The two of them shared a laugh.

J'Khasha quickly took stock of the area, trying to determine how best to deal with the situation. He got an idea when he saw a flight of stairs that led up to the aqueduct they had just passed under. "I think this is our best approach," He whispered. "I'll climb up onto that aqueduct to get into a better position to snipe them with my bow. Gazes, you and Khayla sneak up close to them, on my signal start taking them out, I'll soften up any reinforcements before they get to you."

The others nodded in agreement. "What signal should we look for?" Khayla asked.

Gazes chuckled. "Don't worry, we'll know it when we see it."

"Good luck, you two." J'Khasha climbed onto the aqueduct, then got into an advantageous position by a stone pillar that would make good cover. He waited patiently for Gazes and Khayla to get into position, ignoring the discomfort of his boots and tail getting soaked by the flowing water. Once they looked ready, J'Khasha drew back his arrow, taking a deep breath as he did so to steady his aim, and let it fly into the back of one of the Forsworn.

That's when all Oblivion broke loose. Gazes and Khayla hopped over the animal skin fence they had been hiding behind, Khayla took out the wounded Forsworn while Gazes handled the other. J'Khasha was immediately under fire from a bowman on the walkway above, but an arrow to the chest sent him falling to the ground with a thud, that was three down, another three to go by J'Khasha's count. Gazes and Khayla had already moved on to new opponents, J'Khasha put an arrow into each of them and, when they staggered, Gazes and Khayla finished them off. J'Khasha let out a small "Ha!" in triumph, but his elation was short-lived when a crack of thunder caused the stone pillar to explode into dust, knocking him down in the water. J'Khasha quickly regained his senses and unsteadily stood up to see what hit him. A spellcasting Forsworn wearing a deer's head as a hat was attacking Gazes and Khayla with powerful Shock spells. No matter how many times they hit him he just kept on coming like he couldn't feel it. J'Khasha shot him with arrows over and over to no avail. Finally, J'Khasha coated an arrow with "J'Khasha's Special", and let loose. A couple of seconds after being struck, the Forsworn collapsed. J'Khasha slung his bow across his back, jumped down from the aqueduct, and rushed over to the downed Forsworn, he was still gurgling, so J'Khasha drew his dagger and slit his throat for good measure. J'Khasha flipped the body over, and could see his left chest had been cut open, and his heart had been replaced by what looked like a pinecone held in by leather straps.

"Dark Moons!" Khayla gasped.

"What in Oblivion **is** that thing?" Gazes said in disgust.

J'Khasha recalled the conversation between those Forsworn about a "Briarheart", and a chill ran down his spine that made his tail poof out. "I think we better hurry, something very bad is about to happen!" J'Khasha gathered what arrows he could salvage, then they made their way further up the mountain until they reached a small lake crisscrossed with stone walkways that led to a small island. The island had a number of triangular stone arches that were typical of these Nordic ruins, that was likely where Lucia was taken. The three crossed the walkway to the island, J'Khasha signaled the others to wait by the first arch while he scouted ahead. Once in position behind an animal skin fence, J'Khasha peered around to take a look. Past the second arch were stone pillars on either side leading to a curved, stone wall with strange writing and a stylized dragon's head carved into it, forming an enclosure around a large altar. A forsworn was lying down on the altar while two strange creatures, who appeared to be a mix of woman and bird, prepared some kind of ritual. Sitting on the floor, bound and gagged, next to a large chest was a young Imperial girl that had to be Lucia. She looked in J'Khasha's direction and her eyes widened, J'Khasha held a finger to his lips to quiet her.

Suddenly, one of the creatures drove a dagger into the Forsworn's chest and started cutting. Then its partner reached into his chest and pulled out his heart, causing vomit to rise in J'Khasha's throat and Lucia to let out a muffled scream. "Silence girl!" one of the creatures snarled. She then took one of those pinecone things and started stuffing it into his chest.

J'Khasha quickly backed away, and returned to his companions. "I've found Lucia, but there are two, possibly three, hostiles there. It's too dangerous to attack head-on, so you two lie in wait here and I'll lure them out."

Gazes nodded. "All right, be careful Khash."

Once the others were in position, J'Khasha returned to the fence. He then climbed on top of the arch to get a better vantage point. As he was climbing, one of the creatures began speaking. "Heart of thorn…bones of the wild…in life, Forsworn…" Then the other joined in with its partner. "…rise from death, Blood of our Blood."

A blue aura of magical energy swirled around the Forsworn corpse, which then rose and stood up from the altar as though it had never died. _'Holy shit!'_ J'Khasha thought as he quickly nocked an arrow and took aim at the undead savage's head.

One of the creatures gestured to Lucia. "Your first bloodening Briarheart." Lucia started whimpering and tried to back away.

The Forsworn drew its primitive swords. "For the Reach!" It rasped as it raised its weapons to strike. J'Khasha let loose his arrow into its head, and it fell over dead. Again.

The creatures turned and snarled at J'Khasha, then both began casting Fireballs at him. J'Khasha dropped from the arch and ran for the others. "YOU'LL SUFFER FOR THIS, CAT!" A creature shouted. "WE'LL MAKE A RUG FROM YOUR SKIN, AND REANIMATE YOUR CORPSE!"

J'Khasha ran in a serpentine fashion, dodging exploding Fireballs, and getting his tail singed in the process. "I'M ON FIRE!" He shouted in pain as he ran past his companions. "MY GODS DAMN ASS IS ON FIRE!" He then heard the sound of blades slicing in flesh and gurgled cries. He turned around to see Gazes had impaled one of the creatures through the back, while Khayla had beheaded the other. With the threat gone, J'Khasha was now fully aware of the agonizing pain in his tail. He looked at it to assess the damage and let out a startled cry. The fur on his tail, from the tip to about half a foot up, had been burned off, and the exposed area was covered in blisters. J'Khasha quickly took out a healing potion and poured half of it over his injury, then drank the rest. The blistering stopped, and the pain lessened considerably, but he was still in agony.

Gazes sheathed his sword and readied a Restoration spell. "Hold on Khash! I'll do what I can!" He cast the spell, and J'Khasha could feel its gentle warmth surround his tail. Most of the blisters shrank and vanished until only a couple were left, and the burning pain became a merely uncomfortable stinging. "That's the best I can do, we should get you to a healer as soon as we're can though."

"I'll be fine." J'Khasha said. "We should grab Lucia, and get these kids to their parents." They freed Lucia from her bonds, who immediately clung tightly to J'Khasha and cried into his shoulder. "Hey," He said soothingly. "it's all right, you're safe now."

Lucia continued to cry. "They killed Papa! They hurt Mama!"

"Your mother is fine." J'Khasha said. "She's waiting for you at Rorikstead. We're bringing you back to her." After checking the chest for loot, which held quite a bit of it, they returned to the children, who were thrilled to see their rescuers again. Ma'Isha was particularly happy to see Lucia was safe and gave her a big hug. The group then left the ruin and made their way back to Rorikstead. It was sunset when they finally arrived at the village, and all the parents were overjoyed to have their children back.

Ma'Isha ran to her mother, Atahbah. "Marmarr! Marmarr!"

Atahbah scooped the girl up, and wept tears of joy. "Ma'Isha! Mey skoo ja'khajiit-ma!" She then turned to the Adventurers for Hire. "Thank you!" She said in Tamrielic. "Thank you for saving my cub!" The other children had equally joyful reunions with their families.

Ri'Saad walked up to J'Khasha and Gazes with a huge grin on his face. "On behalf of everyone here, I thank you!" He then handed J'Khasha a good-sized sack. "We all gathered as much coin as we could, but it's nothing compared to having our children home and safe!"

J'Khasha hefted the sack, there had to be nearly ten thousand Septims. "It was little trouble, we were glad to help."

Ri'Saad chuckled. "Your tail, and Khayla's account suggests otherwise!"

One of the parents suddenly shouted. "This calls for a celebration!" Bringing cheers from all around.

"Drinks are on me!" Ri'Saad said, bringing more cheers. "Barkeep, a keg of your finest ale!" He then placed his hands on J'Khasha's and Gazes' shoulders. "Join us! This is as much your celebration as it is ours!"

"Gold **and** free ale?" Gazes said. "You're a man after my heart Ri'Saad!"

The celebration was quite short. It was late already, and the parents were eager to get their children home, leaving the rest of the keg for J'Khasha, Gazes, and Ri'Saad's caravan. Once that was gone, everyone felt that was as good a time as any to retire for the night. Unfortunately, with the caravan taking up the large room, and a guest already occupying one of the small rooms, that left only the other small room for J'Khasha and Gazes. Even more inconvenient, there was only one bed, meaning one of them would have to sleep on the stone floor. "Warrior, Thief, Mage for the bed?" J'Khasha asked, raising his fist.

"You're on!" Gazes said as he raised his fist.

' _Poor, predictable Gazes,'_ J'Khasha thought. _'always picks Warrior.'_

The pair pumped their fists three times before making their choices. Unsurprisingly, Gazes kept his fist closed. "Warrior!" He said triumphantly.

J'Khasha grinned mischievously, for he had crossed his fingers. "Thief! Looks like the bedroll for you!"

"Shit!" Gazes said. "I always forget, Thief backstabs Warrior."

Sometime later, after J'Khasha had settled into bed, Gazes was still sitting up on his bedroll, reading a book by Candlelight spell, much to J'Khasha's annoyance. "You know, you're not the only one in this room."

Gazes dismissed the super bright orb. "Sorry. I was just really engrossed with this book we found at the Forsworn camp. It's about some leader of the Reach who fought against the First Empire. They called him Red Eagle. Fascinating man."

J'Khasha laughed derisively. "I'm surprised any of those savages can even read, let alone own a book. We did good today. We did **real** good, saving those kids. And we got a pretty nice haul to boot. Tomorrow, we should head to Riften, unload as much as they'll take."

Gazes settled into his bedroll. "Sounds like a plan. We should also stop at Riverwood on the way, sell what we can."

"Couldn't hurt." J'Khasha said. "And who knows? We might stumble on more work while we're there!"

The following morning, Ri'Saad and his caravan said their good-byes to J'Khasha and Gazes. "So, what's next for you?" Gazes asked. "We saw what happened to your carriage and Senche-Tiger."

"We'll return to the attack site." Ri'Saad said. "Try to salvage whatever's left of our goods. Then continue to Markarth, buy a new carriage and a horse. This isn't our first setback, and it won't be our last. Keep an eye out for word from me, I have a job for you in the very near future. May your road lead you to warm sands."

Ma'Isha then ran up to J'Khasha, and held out a small bag. "Ma'Isha wants to thank you for saving her! Take it!" J'Khasha took the bag and saw that it was filled with Moon Sugar candy. Ma'Isha then gave J'Khasha's leg a tight hug. "And for saving this one's friend, Lucia!"

J'Khasha patted her on the head. "It was no trouble kid." With that, J'Khasha and Gazes left for Riverwood, and their next adventure.

pg. 13


End file.
